Night #4

This will be the last post on this subject matter, thank you for sticking with me.  This blog is not only where I share my crafty/creative projects, but I also use it to document Avery's progress and milestones etc.  My plan is to print out the blog every couple of years so that she can look back at it and see what her crazy mom was up to.

So yesterday's nap went pretty well- 1 1/2 hours :) 

Night #4:
Last night Franz ran to the grocery store while I put her to sleep. 

8:12- Tucked into bed.  Followed me to the door and cried (the complaining variety) for 2 minutes.

8:14- Asleep :)

This morning we heard her get up around 6:30ish and come open her door.  Then she went back to sleep until 7:15!

It's now naptime, and she is sleeping on her new twin mattress for the first time. 

Every kid is different but here's what I would suggest if you're thinking/planning on transitioning your kid out of their crib:
1.  Wait until they are sick to do it!  I know, it sounds mean- but when they are physically exhausted, they just don't have the energy in them to "fight" with you.  Sleep wins in the end :)
2.  Use a gate at the bedroom door.  Seriously, I can't even begin to imagine how many times Avery would have gotten out of her bed and come into the living room.  I did not want to have to play that game.  The gate keeps her in her room and she knows that's her boundary.
3.  Put a towel over the top of the door.  This way they can't accidentally shut the door all the way.  They will see a sliver of light and won't feel like they're being punished or isolated like a closed door might make them feel.
4.  We used 15 minute increments.  The first night she cried really hard for a solid 15 minutes before we went to check on her.  We then waited another 15 minutes and so on.  If you notice the crying starting to slow down as you get closer to the 15 minute mark, wait an additional 5 minutes.
5.  Start with the crib mattress on the floor for a night or two since they are familiar with it already.  But the sooner you can switch to a twin mattress the better.  We found Avery sleeping on the floor numerous times over the past few days because she slipped off her mattress (which seems so tiny now!).  A twin will give them more room to move around before they slip off.  You could also try the bumper guards they sell, but we figured we'd try it without first.   

***Disclaimer:  We are by no means professionals when it comes to raising kids- this is just what worked for us :)  I was so scared to try this because of all the horror stories you hear from well intentioned friends, etc.  But, you've got to do it sometime, so hopefully our experience will help squelch some of your fears.    

Night #3

Is anyone still with me?  I promise to have a more exciting post (upholstered headboard tutorial) later this week :) 

So yesterday morning Avery slept until 7:15- woo hoo!!!  She woke up in a good mood and continued to stay that way for the rest of the day.

1:00- Naptime.  She saw me putting the gate up in the doorway and came over to help me- ha!  Then she cried* for 5 minutes or so and then fell asleep.

2:30- Woke up from her nap.  This was about the normal length of her naps, so she's adjusting to her new routine pretty quickly :)

Last night, we were running a little behind schedule, so bedtime was pushed back just a few minutes.

8:10- Hugs and kisses and then into bed.  Crying* for 2 minutes.

8:12- Asleep!

12:30am- She woke up to the sound of the air conditioner compressor coming on which is located right behind her bedroom.  I held her for a few minutes and rubbed her back, and then she fell back asleep.

6:45- woke up and came to the door.  Called out a few times, but we ignored her (we always give her 15 minutes before we go get her).  After about 2 or 3 minutes she went back to bed and fell back asleep until 7:30 :)   

Here we are at naptime for today:
1:00- down for her nap.  Crying* for 10 minutes.
1:15- Asleep :)  We'll see how long she sleeps today. 

*This is not loud/angry/mad crying.  It's more of a tired/consoling type of cry while she gets comfortable.  It's not the unbearable sounding crying that breaks your heart and makes you want to run in there and pick her up. 

We feel very, very lucky with how well this transition has gone.  Will it only continue to get easier and easier?  Or will there be some regression at some point?  We're not sure.  But for now, we're pretty thankful.  I credit Franz for this- Avery must have gotten his flexible/easy going/okay with change personality trait.  I'm not usually a big fan of change- unless it involves moving the furniture :) 

Night #2

So last night went pretty well- I really can't complain.  Once she fell asleep, she stayed asleep through the night.  We woke up to her crying/whining at the gate in her door at 6:30.  We let her cry for 15 minutes and then Franz got up with her so I could sleep a little later (he got to sleep in on Saturday).  Normally she sleeps until 7:00 or 7:30ish, so she did wake up earlier than usual.

She was a happy kid all morning- hardly any whining or complaining like we're used to.  We stayed home from church today since she has a cold, so we went about the morning as if it was any other Saturday morning.  Let's talk about naptime :)

1:00- put her down for her normal nap.  Crying immediately as we leave the room.
1:20- she fell asleep.
2:00- woke up from her nap and cried at the gate until I went and got her.

Not a great nap by any means.  She's used to sleeping for 1 1/2- 2 hours.  Although she did really well for the rest of the afternoon- again, hardly any whining or complaining like we're used to with her.  Wonder if this new "freedom" has anything to do with that? 

Okay, now we're back to Night #2.

8:00- say good night and kisses, then put her down and leave the room.  Crying immediately.
8:21- Asleep!

She's got to be exhausted from the lack of sleep and her cold, so fingers crossed that she sleeps in tomorrow morning to catch up :) 

I'm curious, when did you all transition your kids out of their cribs? 

Night #1

Tonight we moved Avery to her new room- without her crib.  She is sleeping on her crib mattress which sits on the carpeted floor.  She has been able to play in her new room for the past two days to get used to it.  We got her some new toys for her new room which she loves and has been playing with non-stop since we brought them home. 

8:00pm- Bedtime.  We both say good night to her and make sure she's settled in on her mattress with her stuffed animals.

8:15- She's been standing at the door crying for 15 minutes (there is a gate to keep her in, but we put a hand towel over the top of the door so it can't latch shut.  Neither one of us wanted to just close the door and leave her alone in the dark, so the gate is our compromise to keep her in, but not have it be so scary and isolating for her).  I go in and lead her back to bed, rub her back for a few minutes and she calms down a bit.  Then I say good night and leave.  More crying.

8:30- The crying has started to slow down, and there are longer stretches between crying and silence.  She's exhausted, so we wait it out a few more minutes.

8:40- No more crying. 

9:00- We go and check on her.  She's asleep on her mattress with all her stuffed animals surrounding her.

9:01- Franz and I breathe a sigh of relief.

If all continues to go well, we'll swap the crib mattress for a twin later in the week.  We have her new twin (it's super comfy, Franz and I are jealous!), but figured we'd start with what she was already familiar with.

Will Night #2 go as smoothly?  Keep us in your prayers :)

Another funny story...

Last night Franz was on bath duty with Avery while I got a little break.  All of a sudden I hear him say, "oh no, I think Avery has a cavity."  My first instinct was there was no way that could happen- she doesn't eat enough sugar for that to happen.  I asked him why he thought that, how could he tell?  He said, "look, her bottom molar has a huge dark spot in it."

That's when I remembered earlier in the afternoon Avery had taken a bite out of her brown crayon!  I knew she had chewed a few pieces and figured "oh well, you can't catch everything".  

We were both relieved to know that Avery's teeth are just fine, and got a big laugh too :)

Funny Story for a Friday

Yesterday Avery and I were sitting side by side on the sofa enjoying an afternoon snack.  She looked over at me, lifted up my shirt and pointed to my stomach and said, "BB".  (sidenote:  she has always called her belly button "bb", so I think she was just trying to point to mine).  I took the opportunity and said "yes, that is where your BABY sister is".  She looked at me as if trying to understanding what I had just said, raised on eyebrow, and then promptly pulled my shirt down and said "bye-bye".

Avery's Rollie Pollie

Using this pattern from MADE, I whipped up a giant rollie pollie for Avery's new room.

The fabric is actually a shower curtain that I found at Marshall's (it's an actual fabric shower curtain, not a plastic/vinyl).  Well, actually two shower curtains- the bottom half of the shower curtain has the sweetest flowering vine pattern and I want to use it somewhere else in the room- so I bought two.  The top and bottom are a solid turquoise and there is a handle on the top for Avery to drag it around.  There is also a zipper so the cover can be removed and washed :)

I'm loving how her room is turning out :)  Next up, what to do with the rest of this fabric? 

Some New Artwork for Avery

Avery's moving into a new bedroom, so I wanted to make the new space interesting and inviting for her so she would enjoy her new room.  Which means lots of projects for me to work on!   

Artwork was first on the agenda, and I remembered some fun Alphabet Cards I've been saving to use since before she was even born:

I love the graphics of Jenn Ski's Actopus to Zelephant flash cards, not to mention the sophisticated color palette.

Then I bought three of these cheap frames in red:

These frames are not only cheap, but I believe they're the only frames at Ikea that come with plexiglass instead of real glass.  And since I'll be using these in a kids room, and we live in southern California where we have earthquakes, it was a perfect match. 

I wrapped the original cardboard backing that came with the frame with some $3.99/yard linen looking fabric from Joann's:

The fun thing about these alphabet cards is that on the back they have interesting facts about the animal on the opposite side.  Right now, Avery is too young for this, but she will be ready in a few years.  I used removeable sticky tape dots (found in the scrapbook section), so hopefully I can put them in a photo album with clear plastic sleeves so she can flip through and learn some cool things.

I just love this one:  

And this one:

This was a quick and inexpensive little project, but it will have lots of impact in her new room.  I'm thinking I'm going to hang them down low at her level so she can look at them up close whenever she wants. I hope she likes them!

I'd Like to Spend a Year In Bed

A few of you have asked me what bed we ultimately ended up purchasing after this post.  After a lot of research (online only), a lot of discussion (you want to spend how much on a mattress?), and finding out that I was pregnant, we have decided to wait a bit.  I couldn't say for sure whether the mattress was uncomfortable because I was pregnant.  And why buy a new mattress when probably no matter what we chose would end up uncomfortable the bigger I got? 

This morning I came across this article on Apartment Therapy and did a little happy dance!  I'm definitely going to be following along this year.  The author will be trying out/testing as many different kinds of beds during the upcoming year, and then reviewing them.   

The first bed up for review is a Hastens Excelsior II, for a mere $13,650 you too can own one of these beds.  Next up will be the Ikea Sultan for $400.

Hopefully in a year I'll feel more educated and a little more prepared to take the plunge and make a purchase.