I have two little hands folded snugly and tight.
They are tiny and weak, yet they know what is right.
During all the long hours till the daylight is through,
there is plenty indeed for these two hands to do
#272 - Children's Songbook
They are tiny and weak, yet they know what is right.
During all the long hours till the daylight is through,
there is plenty indeed for these two hands to do
#272 - Children's Songbook
We've had a trying week this past week, and ready or not, here comes a new one! Boo and Yaks have a love/hate relationship lately. I used to have to protect Yaks from Boo's evil clutches when they were little and I looked forward to the day when he could defend himself a little bit.
Look at that little baby's face! He's terrified. "Please keep her away from me!"
Friday I went downstairs to switch a load of laundry and Boo had bestowed this lovely war wound on her brother.
Friends at church asked, "Did he fall? Did a cat scratch him?" I just pointed to Boo and they all said, "Ooooh." The other addition to this fun little phase (will it ever end?) is that both kids have learned to climb out of their cribs. It started w/ Boo and I actually encouraged it. She's getting really heavy to lift in and out of there, so we had a little how-to lesson, and she successfully climbed out of her crib after her nap and joined me downstairs, which was really nice! Less than 24 hours later, Yaks learned the skill and now climbs in and out of his crib at-will. I wasn't ready for that one.
The other night I put them both to bed and went downstairs and then heard the following:
Boo: "Hi, Yaks do you wanna come sleep in my crib? Yea? Okay! Can you reach my princess dolly for me? Right there. On the floor." I went upstairs to find one excited kid gone AWOL from his room. "I ge owe my crib!"
NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo!
So, we've had some really early mornings these past few days with him climbing out of his crib at oh...5:00, 6:00. Yeah, a nightmare. Any advice for me, seasoned mothers? Should I put them both in beds (Boo loves sleeping in her crib and always turns down our offers for a big girl bed), and if I did, how do I keep them in their rooms? Electric fence? Barbed wire? ;)
Friday we took Boo into Instacare with an ear infection - I totally called it. It came on suddenly and I was sure that was what it was, but we had to wait over an hour for her to be seen. She was miserable and I was kicking myself for not giving her a dose of tylenol before we left the house. We're all feeling better now and Yaks kindly slept until 8:00 this morning. Hopefully everyone will be on the mend this week and we can have a happy, healthy and gentle week!
8 comments:
You poor mama! You did have a tough week. I hope this one will be better.
My kids aren't climbers (yet ... finding some wood to go knock on right now) so I don't have any great personal advice, but I have friends who have used crib tents to keep their kids in bed at night. They say they're great. If Boo is still comfortable in a crib, then I say there's no reason to rush her into a big bed.
As for keeping kids in their rooms ... this is probably going to expose me as the terrible mom that I am, but I put one of those plastic childproofing door handles on Goose's door to keep her in (and one on the outside of Blue's room to keep her out). It was much cheaper than getting a gate, which is what most people suggest. At some point I'll have to wean her of it, but for now it's working great. And no, I don't think she feels trapped like a rat in a cage ... she never even goes to the door or tries to get out.
I do worry about the fire hazard aspect of it (not being able to exit her room), but having a gate there would cause the same problem.
p.s. Are those teeth marks on Yaks face? Poor baby!
First off-thanks for the FHE idea with Pres. Monson. We used it at our entire Thomas family FHE last night-big hit! Sorry about the sibling wars going on at your house. We've really been lucky that our older 2 never wanted to climb out of the crib. Jack fell once if that counts. I have a feeling that Brody may be another story!They both transitioned fine into big boy beds and they've never been allowed in our bed. I told Jack once when he didn't want to sleep in his bed that he could sleep there in the hall, in the garage, or his nice warm and comfy bed...he chose wisely. What if you put your little guy in a big boy bed first, really talk it up. I'll bet his sister would follow the leader. We also had to resort taking off Jack's door handle when he was about their age. We obviously could open it from the outside but he caught on fast (few days of door kicking with mom's occasional reassurances) that once it was bed time...door shut, night night. It worked. Good luck with that, bed time can be a nightmare. Just be firm and consistent/consistant??? Thanks also for the blog help, I'll keep trying. The big day is March 5th. You're October 5th and I'm March 5th ...right! xo
Good suggestions. Boo knows how to open the child"proof" door handles, but Yaks doesn't yet. Good idea. I think big kid beds are a good idea, or at least tossing the mattress on the floor and removing the crib. The saddest part is that Boo didn't have any desire to climb out of her crib until I encouraged her. Now I've created a monster! No, those aren't teeth marks. Scratch marks (not much better).
Goose bit Blue in the face a few weeks ago and it looked just about like that. It was awful. My kids definitely have their moments, too.
Ug. I've got the two girls together in the same room now and it has meant some late nights. Meg never was one to climb out of the crib. We took her out of it pretty young, though. And,luckily Meg doesn't come out of the room much anymore. We used the baby gate for a while...but climbing over it bacame a game. We ended up using a sticker chart of sorts for her to add to each morning when she "was a big girl who stayed in bed." That worked...but who knows what we will face when Paige starts wanting to get out of the crib. Maybe some sort of incentive would work for Jane 1-for staying in her bed herself and 2-for not asking brother to get out. But, who knows I remember you saying she wasn't so into that when potty-training.
I am sure I'll be coming to you for suggestions when Paige hits the I want out stage. I hope you get good suggestions.
They are doing better than my brother and I. I tried to kill him everyday for 18 years until I went to college and realized he was one of the coolest people I knew. Too bad we wasted time not being best buddies.
Your kiddos are atleast friends most of the time. :)
I have to comment on the picture of the kids on the paisley couch. Darling kids, and memorable couch. Do you know that my mother-in-law has never forgiven me for giving that thing away? I think I'll give her the link to your blog so she can "visit" her old couch. Honestly!
I have no great ideas for the escapee problem. I think I top all the terrible moms with this one... I put a lock on the outside of Brooklyn's door at that age (2 or 3). I only used it for time outs. I also used to lock it at nap time and bed time until she fell asleep, because the child would not stay in her room long enough to fall asleep without it. It really helped her to know that coming out was not an option. Then she'd actually lay down long enough to fall asleep. Then I'd unlock the door for obvious safety reasons. Bad mom? Hey, it's a survival thing isn't it? One day at a time. Good luck!
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