June
2007
Getting the House Back to Normal?
Not quite yet, but it’s fun to see how the boys respond to changing things around a bit.
The boys have been climbing over the gate that blocks off the upstairs. So we opened them up today and put some locks on the doors that are up there. They had so much fun going up and down. They even took their vacuum (their popper) up and cleaned their room! I have to say it’s soooo nice not to have to climb over that gate every time I want to go upstairs! My living room even feels a little bit bigger.
Tonight we put Drew to bed first, he goes down better when Bran’s still up than Bran does when Drew’s still up. But Brandon didn’t want to be downstairs without Drew so he kept trying to go up the stairs (and now he can with no gate), so I had to find activities to keep him busy until Drew fell asleep. Finally Drew was asleep and Bran just couldn’t wait any longer, so I started asking him some questions to make sure he really wanted to go to sleep and not just bother Drew. “Are you ready to go to sleep?”, he nods. “Are you ready to close your eyes and lay down?”, at which point Bran responds by closing his eyes and climbing the stairs with his eyes closed tight shut. It was so funny! We kept waiting for him to open his eyes but he never did until he reached the top! He had a little trouble at one point, but did pretty well getting up.
We have a new policy at the house that they can only have their soothers for nap and bedtime. They leave their soothers behind when they come downstairs and have been doing really well with it. Bran really has a hard time settling down to sleep and he was tossing and turning again tonight, but he eventually got to the point where I thought he was ready to fally asleep. At which point he looks at me, hands me his soother and says, “thank you, no bed” and tries to get out of bed and go back downstairs!
In general the boys are doing well with their increasing freedom and it’s interesting to watch how they react to the changes. It’s also nice to be reminded that I may get some of my house back again soon and that it really hasn’t been that long of a time living in our little “gated community” as it’s been called.
Your post reminded me that I used to stagger bedtime with Hayley and Ellen too. I don’t think I did it for night time, but I did for naps. I worked really well b/c Hayley would fall asleep so fast when she was alone, but with Ellen in with her it might never happen. Come to think of it, maybe I should try it now!
Bran’s “thank you, no bed” is hilarious! It’s so funny how their little minds work. It reminded me of the other day when Eden wanted to sit in the chair I was sitting in. She put her hand under my leg and said, “excuse me”. It was so funny that I was compelled to give up my chair.
Thanks for letting us babysit the boys tonight. I must say – your boys are amazingly cute and I have a newfound respect for you and Mike. You’re super patient with the boys and they’re really growing up to be good strong healthy curious boys. You two are AMAZING parents. Let us babysit more ;b
That my friend Jon is a very dangerous offer:-)Thanks for babysitting tonight! We went to an amazing concert and I have a new favorite singer. It was comforting to know that the boys were in such good hands!
It’s amazing how the minds of kids work. That’s hilarious Theresa! My mother-in-law called today to find out if we let Bran out of bed or not. It was tempting to at least reward him for the effort, but no he had to stay in bed. Are the girls not going to bed now? I bed summer vacation doesn’t help!