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We bunked the boys together a little over a week ago when Grandma was here. The boys had been begging to be bunked together since the spring, but I wanted to wait until school was over. After school was over, we traveled so much that we didn’t get a chance to do it until it was almost the end.
The boys have enjoyed being the same room; it has ended up that Jonas goes to bed later and wakes up earlier because of Sean. It hasn’t been too late or too much earlier, so I’m hoping with more time, Jonas will just ignore his brother and go to sleep.
It’s been about 1.5 weeks since we transitioned Karis into her big girl bed. It’s very well. She’s stayed in her bed (except for one time getting out).
Despite it going well, her transition has also coincided with her exerting her toddler will. During the past 2 weeks, we’ve had a bedtime battle, well for Karis anyways. It used to be that we’d put her down, and she’d lay down on her tummy, and she was out. Recently, it’s been her crying or wanting something. I think she’s starting to go back to her normal self, which is nice.
The transition has also coincided with Karis not taking a nap. It seems like she’s taking a nap every two to three days. She stays in her bed, but she’s often whining/complaining which makes rest time less relaxing for me.
All in all, things are going very well. 🙂
Tonight, our last child (that we have planned, we don’t know about God) will transition into her big girl bed. For the first time, the crib will be converted into a toddler bed; the boys got a mattress on a boxspring as their big beds. Why now? Well, we inadvertently figured out during our travel woes earlier this month, that Karis is getting too big for the pack ‘n play. We are traveling in March, so I think Karis would be more comfortable if she wasn’t in the pack ‘n play.
To be honest, with the Karis, I haven’t had thought much about potty training or transitioning her into a big girl bed. It’s been more of necessity that we’re transitioning her than anything. I hope that it goes well, and she isn’t a popper. After getting out of her crib last Sunday, we have not had another fiasco, so I hope things will go well.
As an added perk for Karis, I will be getting out the quilt that Grandma has made for her. She really likes the quilt, but it’s been too big for her to lug around the house. Hopefully, this will give her incentive to stay in bed in addition to her “bear” that she now gets to sleep with (as of last week).
We had small group at our house after church. We put the kids down after lunch for nap/quiet time, like normal. I was finishing up my lunch when my husband whispered to me, “Come here”. I was dreading what I was going to find – bodily fluid that needed to be cleaned up. I walked towards the hallway, and my husband incredulously pointed at Karis. She was wondering the halls like she owned the place. We had put her down for nap in her crib in her room with the door closed.
I inwardly groaned. I heard about children climbing out of their cribs and creating chaos, but we hadn’t had one in our house until today. We put her back down, reprimanded her for getting out, and laid her back down. She made no more escapes and went to bed.
We were already thinking about transitioning her to a big girl bed next weekend. We’ll see how that adventure goes. 😛
I’ll stick with the sleep posts and then update hopefully some time in the next couple of days.
My husband and I just laid down to sleep on Halloween night. I was drifting off to sleep when I heard someone come out of their room, and turn on the lights to the kids bathroom. It was a little odd since the boys usually don’t use the bathroom until dawn before going back to sleep. We heard the boy go back into their room. I tried to go back to sleep.
This is where it gets weird. My husband gets up, and goes out into the hallway, where we discover it was Sean that got up. The light in the bedroom was on, but Sean was laying down in bed. My husband walked over and the following exchange happened:
My husband: Sean, why did you turn on the bathroom lights? Did you go to the bathroom?
Sean turned around and stared at my husband, but didn’t answer.
My husband: Sean, why did you leave the lights on in your room?
Sean stares at my husband blankly.
Sean: …. my room?
My husband: Go back to bed.
My husband turns off the lights in Sean’s room and comes back to bed. He said it was weird and eerie how Sean was staring at him blankly the whole time. We figured Sean was sleepwalking because he didn’t remember any of it when we asked him about it the next morning. It was a little eerie though, since it was Halloween. I imagine it was a little like the exorcist.
I had this brilliant plan last night that backfired on me.
Let me give you some background. Actually, I’ll give you a background to the background. Our bedrooms are setup in the house thusly: If you walk all the way down the hallway there is a door straight ahead; it’s the shared bathroom for the kids. On the left side of the hallway is each of the boys room. On the right side is Karis’ room and our room. Ok, now the stage is set.
Back to the background. Our children, for reasons unbeknownst to me, have been getting up earlier than normal. For me, 6:45-7AM is acceptable. The past month, it’s been 6-6:30AM. Fortunately, the boys stay in their room until 6:45, but it usually isn’t quiet, so most days we are up awake when they are awake. A typical morning starts by one boy going into the bathroom – bedroom door opens, bathroom door is shut, bathroom door opens, bedroom door shuts. After one boy goes to the bathroom, the second goes as soon as the first one is done. That’s four doors shutting in a semi-loud/loud fashion. Karis is usually awake by the time the second boy goes back to his room. Much like me, Karis’ normal wake up time would probably be between 7:30-8AM, so both of us are usually unhappy at this point.
After a few days of waking up early, I talk to Sean about his waking up. I told him he needed to find something quiet to do until about 6:30, and then he could go to the bathroom. It works great for a few days. Then, one morning, I hear someone going to the bathroom at 6AM. It’s Jonas. This goes on for a few mornings.
Last night, I thought about what to do to keep the house quiet until at least 6:30AM, mostly for me, but Karis and my husband are also beneficiaries. Jonas doesn’t have a clock in his room, and even if he did, he doesn’t know how to tell time. I have this brilliant idea. I tell Jonas that he can’t go to the bathroom until after he hears Sean go to the bathroom because Sean does have a clock in his room, and he can tell time. Jonas agrees. I’m hoping that we won’t have to be awake at 5:30AM like the night before, and this early morning wakeup has been resolved. Right? No, wrong.
This is where the backfiring occurs. Jonas wakes up in the middle of the night, which is rarely does. He needs a drink and his sippy is empty. My husband fills it up. A few minutes later, I hear crying again. I go into Jonas’ room. He’s sobbing, “I need to go potty badly, but you said I can’t get up.” I grumble, and tell him it’s ok. I prevent him from slamming the door and flushing the toilet so that he doesn’t wake up his siblings. He goes back to bed, and I go back to bed. I have a hard time falling asleep because my body thinks it got enough (I think it was about 3AM at this point).
Now, we are back to the drawing board. Maybe I’ll just use pull-ups at night again. 🙂
Our family has gone through a nap reduction lately. Jonas has mostly given up his nap starting the middle of May. Karis has finally gone down to one nap, which started around her birthday. I was hoping to keep two naps on vacation, but her having the same naptime as all the other children made things more flexible, so she was on nap most of vacation.
On a happier note (and as I promise that I would)… Jonas has been doing wonderfully in his new big boy bed! We haven’t had one incident at all! Even when we visited Houston and the boys shared a room! I’m so proud of Jonas. I’m so glad that he’s stayed in bed even during his naptimes. What a big boy!
Sean loves bunk beds, and he’s been wanting one for a long time. When our realtor showed us our current house, one of the rooms had a bunk bed. When we told Sean we were going to buy the house, he was so excited because he thought the bunk beds would stay in the room. Needless to say, he was very disappointed that his room was completely empty when we moved in.
Sean has also been begging us to have Jonas sleep in the same room as him. He wants Jonas to sleep in the same bed as him. It’s so sweet to hear, but we explained to Sean that Jonas hasn’t slept in a big boy bed, and the bed is too small for two boys. We told him when Jonas gets older, that they’ll be in the same room. Sean’s a little disappointed, but he’s eagerly awaiting the day when they’ll be in the same room.
Well, today, we’re one step closer to putting them in the same room. We ordered bunk beds online, and they came yesterday and the delivery men kindly assembled it for us. Today, the mattresses will be arriving. Despite being bunk beds, we’re going to use them as regular beds for some time because Sean doesn’t take a nap in the afternoon (but has quiet time), but Jonas still does. I didn’t want the boys to be in the same room until Jonas gives up his nap. Even then, I might separate them for quiet time. So, the earliest I would consider putting them together in the same room is August, when Sean starts kindergarten and is in school the whole day.
In preparation for Jonas transitioning into a big boy bed, we’ve bought two new sets of sheets for them in March when we ordered the beds. We’ve also talked to Jonas about being in big boy bed. We ask if he’s excited, and he nods and smiles. Jonas was excited to see his new bed assembled after naptime yesterday. He asked if he could sleep in it (the frame) this afternoon. I’m glad that he’s excited about a big boy bed. I think it’s helped seeing Sean in his bed. I am a little worried that Jonas will be our “popper” – popping in and out of bed. One of the main reasons for this is because Jonas LOVES to catapult himself over Sean’s bedrail. He thinks it’s a great game. So, in preparation for the popper, I’ve read some things online of what to do when a toddler gets out of bed. It’s simple enough – put him back in bed until he stays and goes to sleep without giving him very much attention or any emotion. The catch is being consistent and persevering if it goes on for a long time. My hope is that since we have a bedtime routine set since he was a baby, the bed will be put in the same place as the crib, and there will be a bedrail, that all these things will help him to transition well. In the worst case scenario, we’ll put him back in his crib if the transition is too difficult. But I’m hopeful that it won’t be! 🙂
This whole transition has snuck up on me, and I don’t think I’ve fully processed through the fact that Jonas will be in a bed! I’ll update you to see how things go the rest of the week. 🙂
Given my discouragement about Karis’ 9 month checkup today. I thought I’d finish writing up this post about Karis. I feel like God is reminding me about the words in Phillipians 4:8,
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Karis is lovely and praiseworthy because she is created by God, loved by God, and a blessing to our family. I think it is good to write and think about the good things of Karis. So, let me continue to praise God about Karis.
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Earlier this week when I was at the store, an elderly lady helped Jonas in the cart for me. When we were in the store, Karis was sitting in the front of the cart and smiled at the lady. The lady asked how old Karis was, and I said 9 months. She was very surprised and said that Karis was really small. Yes, Karis is small, but only weight-wise. It’s deceiving how tiny she is because she is actually quite tall for her age; so she’s not necessarily petite. She is, however, a cute bundle of sweetness.
Two common comments from people about Karis, 1) She’s beautiful/cute/gorgeous/etc. and 2) She’s so happy! I’m not really going to address the first comment, because I completely agree (and yes, I know I’m biased because I’m her mother), and why disagree with the public, right? As for the second comment, that she’s happy, she totally is. She is an incredibly happy baby. By happy, I don’t mean that she’s always content and never cries. No, she does fuss and cry when she’s frustrated, tired, or hungry. She let’s you know she’s unhappy. By happy, I mean that she has a very joyful personality. She smiles so easily. She loves to smile at people. And when she smiles, her whole face lights up, and you can see how happy she is in her eyes. The girl also loves to laugh. Ok, let’s be honest here, the girl doesn’t laugh, she cackles. Yes, that’s what I said, cackles. When something tickles her, she will just cackle over and over again. Her brothers are experts at getting her to cackle wildly. It’s quite infectious when all of the children are laughing together! Another reason why I say that Karis is happy is because when she’s sick, she’s still happy! A month ago, I brought Karis in to the doctor because she was wheezing and the doctor was so surprised that she was so happy! The poor girl had bronciolitis, and she was smiling! I will say it’s such a blessing to have a happy girl even when she’s sick an teething!
Karis is becoming increasingly social. Mrs. Jaime said to me today, “She’s so advanced socially! Soooo advanced. She’s amazing!” Part of the reason I think that she’s a social “genius” is because she’s an extrovert. It’s being ever so apparent that she is. It doesn’t take her long to figure out that she’s been left in a room by herself. She lets you know that it definitely not okay for her to be by herself. She doesn’t need interaction from people, but she loves having people around. Sometimes, I’ll just sit by her exersaucer and fold laundry, and she’ll be perfectly happy playing by herself knowing that I’m right next to her. She doesn’t mind other people holding her or being left with strangers; as long it’s people, she’s happy. She’s quick to smile at others, which prompts the popular comment, “She’s so happy!”. She loves to grab faces as if to say, “Come closer, I want you near!” which we are happy to oblige most of the time. She is starting to make more sounds and stringing the sounds together. One of her more common ones is “dada”, which my husband loves.
Karis is developing quite nicely physically. She now has four teeth, three of which are coming in at the same time. She is able to sit for quite a long time, and it is, right now, her favorite positions. She isn’t crawling yet, but she is gaining mobility. She is able to spin herself while sitting so that she can reach toys that she wants. When she is on her belly, I’ve seen her inch ever so slightly forward to get a toy she wants. Most of the time when she is on her belly, she kicks her legs excitedly She is getting closer to putting her legs underneath her, but we haven’t actually she her successfully do it. I’m sure that that in a month or two, she’s going to be even more mobile! Her fine motor skills are growing as well; she loves to grab things, even things as small as Cheerios. She can, on occasion, pick up a Cheerio and put it into her mouth. Most of the time, however, the Cheerio ends up in her palm and she has yet to figure out how to open her hand to insert the food. I know the day will come, however!
In the past month or so, Karis has given up her third nap. She usually goes to bed between 6:40 – 7:00PM, depending when she wakes up from her afternoon nap and/or how busy our evening becomes. The past few weeks, Karis has started sleeping all the way through the night, waking up around 6:30AM-7:00AM. Can I stop to say that she is amazing? She did this all by herself; we didn’t have to cut out the 5AM feeding. There are times, however, she does cry out for a few minutes at night before settling back down. Even when she’s sick, at most, she’s up fussing for 30 minutes. It’s been such a blessing to be able to have her sleep so long! As she’s gotten older, it seems like sickness seems less likely to wake her up, which is such a relief for me.
I saved the best for last. Karis loves her family. Loves, loves, loves. When daddy comes into sight, she has such a big grin on her face and kicks excitedly. When I come into sight, she does the same, though my husband will claim that she’s much happier to see me than him. It’s such a sweet thing to be recognized and visibly loved by your child! Karis’ adoration for her brother’s has not changed one bit. She loves her brothers, and I have a feeling that she is just itching to join them. When her brothers are running around the house, she will turn her head to the sounds of her brother, searching for them and eagerly awaiting to when they might run past her. When her brothers stop and give her some attention, she just lights up. There is no other way to describe it. She is in bliss being around them! I have a feeling in a few months, that there will be a little girl trying her darndest to keep up with the boys! Won’t that be a sight to see!
Our Sweet Ts 