Oh now...it hasn't been all bad...but today has been a doozy. A comical doozy, but still a doozy nonetheless! I'm just full of stories these days aren't I?
Alrighty - it is only 3:30 and here is how my day has unfolded so far.
The morning started off peacefully and perfect. Feeding and cuddling Adelyn, a cup of coffee, made a dessert for a friends house this evening...just a nice Saturday morning.
Grayson woke up around 8:30 - so I got him up and we had breakfast together. Ethan woke up around 9. Both boys were extremely fussy this morning and I saw both of them grab their ears, so I decided I better take them on in to the Dr. to make sure we weren't dealing with ear infections.
Before we went to town I decided to hop in and get a quick shower. Adelyn was sleeping, but I had the boys come in the bathroom with me. I started the water and turned my back just for a second and I heard a loud cry. Ethan had fallen in to the shower - fully clothed. He was laying there and couldn't get up and the water was just pouring down on top of him. Poor little thing. He was so scared. After I got him out, settled him down, and knew he was okay I laughed so hard! He was drenched from head to toe. He looked like a sad little puppy standing there in his bib overalls dripping all over the bathroom floor. He recovered quickly and we moved on.
I loaded all three kiddos up in the car and off we went. At the clinic I decided I would put the boys in their double stroller and put Adelyn in the Ergo and carry her in. I unloaded the boys and then attempted to get Adie in to her Ergo. Now I have done this multiple times already - but there was this one little buckle unhooked today and for the life of pete I could not figure out what to do to get the newfangled thingamajiggy to work! It was cold, the boys were whining, Adelyn wasn't any too happy - so I just said FORGET IT and I just carried her in. Now, as you can imagine it's a bit hard to carry a two month old and maneuver a double stroller across the parking lot, up on to the sidewalk, and in to the door. A kind woman saw this crazy woman and her slew of children and she held the door for us. Then she shook her head at me. Thanks for that. :)
Once we were in the waiting room we were golden. Bambi was on, I had crackers - all was good....until they called our name to come back.
See...the boys don't like the doctor. Maybe I should have thought of that before I decided to take them there alone. Once we got in to the exam room the boys lost it. They didn't want to be there, didn't want the nurse to check their temp, didn't want to be talked to, touched, or looked at.
The nurse asked if we could get their weights (what a great idea! not!), so I took one boy at a time out of the stroller and we went to the scale. The boys did not want to be weighed. They stomped their little feet and wouldn't stand on the scale. I had to end up pretty much holding them on and they weigh somewhere around 30 pounds each. She thought that Ethan was 35 and Grayson was 33. Good enough for me!
By the time the Dr. came in to check on them I had three screaming children on my hands (Adelyn was tired and was just a little sick of all this commotion!). The doctor and I had to yell at each other to try and communicate over the lungs of my children. Him and I both just had to laugh! Turns out the boys just have some good head colds. No ear infections. I was thankful for the good news - but after all the work we went to I thought it should have been a little something more than just a "it will just take time." :) No, I'm kidding. I'm just glad my little boys are full of mucus and snot and nothing more (except pure and total sweetness of course).
On the way home I picked them up some strawberry smoothies to make it all better. We got home and had a nice lunch and they sucked those babies down in two seconds flat! I'd say we have some smoothie lovers in our midst!
And then comes nap time....glorious nap time. The time I have always loved. The time that gave me a breather, a chance to clean, a chance to blog, a chance to call friends, a chance to start dinner, a chance to brush my teeth...you feel me?
Well this entire week (since Chris left - imagine that?!) they have decided they have no need for naps any longer. Since last Sunday they have not slept a wink for me during the day. These are boys that up until that point used to sleep at least 2-3 hours each afternoon.
Well this afternoon I was in our bathroom getting ready (for the second time today - the first time was all worked off!). I heard this faint music and I was so curious as to what in the world it was. I walked out of my bathroom and kept trying to figure it out. I went outside the boys bedroom door and heard their book "Jesus Loves Me" playing. I thought that perhaps it was just a glitch that it went off, so I just listened a little longer. And then I heard it stop and start again. Nope, not a glitch. I wondered to myself, 'How in the world were they able to reach that book from their crib?' I opened their door and I so wish that I had a picture of what I saw. The first thing I noticed was Grayson's empty crib. Then my eyes began to survey the damage. The little stinker had emptied out the drawers of his dresser along with nearly every book on the bookshelf. Him and Ethan were just giggling and giggling - until they saw Mommy enter the nursery. Instantly their eyes got big and they had this UH OH look across their faces. Oh I tried SO hard to keep a straight face and put my tough mommy pants on...but it didn't work. Just seeing the mess and those two little faces looking up at me I just lost it! I laughed and laughed.
I put him back in his crib with some books for both of them to read. I told them that they could just have some quiet time to read books and relax. They looked at me like I was insane, and out of their room I went. As you can probably guess it wasn't more than just a few seconds after I shut the door that I heard more giggles. Yep, Grayson was out again.
It has now been 4 times that I have put him back in his crib. I wasn't so nice this last time.
Daddy - you have got to come home! It appears we're going big boy bed shopping!
Oh bring on the fun! :)
P.S. Those of you who have been there/done that - advice please! How do we easily transition two children to toddler/single beds? Is there an easy way? :)
Umm...... I transitioned two kids to big beds.... but there was about 18 months in between! So, it won't be much help I'm afraid. Gavin needed about 1 day of serious putting him back in bed. I mean I lost count at 25. But that was really all it took. The bad news was we had to move him out of Chloe's room until he adjusted. They wouldn't stay in bed when they were together. Now they are fine in a room together. Chloe was only 15 months and I don't think it occurred to her that she COULD get out. I know we used regular sized twins (not toddler) and dan built side rails that ran the full length of the bed. It made it more like a crib and they seemed like that helped.
ReplyDeleteAck... I don't know. I say this is Chris's job for leaving you home alone. We'll go out for drinks and he can call when they are asleep!!!!
Let us know how it goes!
Cheyrl
Hahahahahahaha! I loved this story! It made me whole day. :) What little stinkers. Good for you for just laughing and keeping it all in perspective! I'm sure they will love their new big boy beds. When we moved Kensi, it was about a good month or so before she even realized she could get out of it by herself. :)
ReplyDeleteI say when Chris gets back we hit Dave's. You need a good night out on the town after this week. :)
I completely understand your outing to the doctor's office today! That was me last Friday for the boys' 6 month check-up, but all three got immunizations that day. (Fun weekend following!) I've pushed the double stroller many times while carrying 2-year-old Amy. My arms are getting buff!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I read the comments to see that Kristen is following your blog! :) I'll email some of what we have tried for bed transitioning...the more options you have to try, the better.
ReplyDeleteI love this story Beth!!! Love it!!! What a memory!!!
ReplyDeleteThe boys will love it too!!
I don't often comment, but I follow your blog and love it! You have some really cute children, and I know you have a full plate! I have 3 little ones, Paul (who will turn 4 yrs. old on Nov. 16th), Hannah (2 1/2 yrs) and Marie (3 1/2 mo.). I don't claim to have all the answers about bed transitioning, but I know what we did and it worked really well. I guess I got some of my ideas from my mom (I was 2nd of 10 children). For both Paul & Hannah, when they were about 1 year old, we bought a cheap (new, not used. I didn't want fleas and rodents!) mattress and put it on the floor. Then, one night, we just put them on it with their teddy bear and blankie (what they normally slept with). Now, before all that, we figured out a plan. What to do if they got off the mattress (the first time, the second time, etc.). For each of them, when we put them on the mattress, we explained to them that they were to stay on the mattress, they must not get off, and they needed to snuggle with their bear and go nightie-night. (One thing to note is that neither of them were walking when we transitioned to the mattress.) For my son, he never challenged the "do not get off your big bed" instructions. He just stayed on the mattress and went to sleep. When it was Hannah's turn, sometimes she challenged it (but very rarely), and then I had to implement the program of consequences. But it was never a huge issue. That was rare.
ReplyDeleteA couple things that helped us have success, I think, were that we expected our children to obey verbal instructions in other areas of life, and they were used to that and to our expectations. Another is putting them to bed when they were tired and ready to go to sleep.
One thing that has proven out for me is that most of the time my children handle things much, much better than I think they will. I think it is true that if I expect much out of my kids, they live up to my expectations. I get really concerned sometimes with different changes and situations that come along, but they always rise to the occasion and make me proud.
Oh, one more thing. Consistency has proven to be a huge key to success with my kids!
I wish you the best, and I'm sure you can figure out a program and then start implementing it.
My boys were pretty compliant when it came to staying in bed...but, is there any reason to move them both at one time if the other will stay in the crib? Maybe only change one at a time? You know your boys best...just a thought...
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you for all the comments! I love hearing from all of you. Some great ideas! My husband comes home this afternoon so we are going to devise a plan and go from there!
ReplyDeleteTough mommy pants! Love it! They're not always easy to keep on, though!
ReplyDeleteMy twins are nearly 3 and still in cribs! They have never attempted to climb out! I'm amazed when I hear of toddlers climbing out! Beds for our little ones will be their birthday present from us, complete with fun bedding. I'm expecting issues too, but I like the comment above from Sally. We have found things go much better when we tell our tots what we expect of them, and I've been gracefully enforcing first-time obedience since they were 18 months. I'm expecting some crawling out of bed issues and going to "bug" the sibling - keeping my expectations realistic helps, too! Let us all know how it goes!