My tiny sweet Super C will be 2 years old in 4 short months. Where did the time go?
We celebrated with banana flax bread at lunch and enjoyed a fun-filled Wednesday… A full day with Nana, swim class with Daddy and nighttime stories with Mommy.
I swear, I’ll post a real 20 month update soon, but for now, just a big Happy 20 months to my sweet pie.
The weekend I’ve been stressing over for MONTHS finally arrived: C’s big transition from crib to big girl bed. Let’s just say, we were a little ill-prepared.
We decided that we would start on Friday evening to maximize the number of sleeps (night and naps) in the big girl bed over the weekend. However, the room wasn’t totally ready for a toddler’s free reign.
So before bed, Mark and I were hauling around to complete the following:
By the time we finished, it was around 7:30. Kind of a late start for nighttime routine, but we got on our way. We both tried very hard to relax and settle into the routine, but I’m not sure how well we did. I think we were both still feeling a little rushed from our last minute toddler-proofing tasks and definitely anxious about the transition.
Anyway, we read books, brushed teeth and then took Charlotte into her new room. Instantly, she seemed on edge. We did her normal bedroom routine of saying goodnight to all her “guys” and cranking her music box. Then, we put her in her bed. She refused to lay down and was clinging her teddy.
Mommy: It’s okay. You don’t have to lay down. Here are your guys and here’s your blanky. There are books if you want to read, but it’s time for bed, so Mommy and Daddy are going to leave. We’ll see you in the morning. We love you!
Charlotte: <Cue the sobbing>
Daddy (to Mommy): Should we stay until she settles or falls asleep?
Mommy (to Daddy): Nope! We have to believe that she can do it! (To Charlie): We love you! You’re such a big girl.
Charlotte: <More sobbing>
Mark and I scurried out of the bedroom and immediately grabbed the monitor. While Charlotte cried, Mark began making suggestions, “Maybe we should send Toby in there?”
I don’t know where all of my inner mom strength was coming from, but I reassured him that she could do it and that we had to give her a minute. Through the monitor speaker, I told her that we loved her and were so proud of her and that we’d see her in the morning.
Then, she was quiet. She probably only cried for about a minute after we left her room. Then, she sat very quiet and still, clinging onto her teddy, for a good few minutes.
And all of a sudden, she seemed to relax.
She grabbed a book and had a nice little read.
She laid down and chatted.
Throughout the night, she rolled around enjoying her newfound space. And, she slept without a peep until 7am. Not to mention the fact that she stayed in bed the ENTIRE time!!
Wake up time!
The rest of her naps and night sleeps went just as well.
So, it’s official! Our tiny tot is officially a BIG GIRL sleeping in a giant, full-sized bed.
As I mentioned before, I purchased these bumpers to put under her sheets and help keep her from rolling off the bed. I’m a huge fan.
I think I’ve mentioned this, but Mark and I have been taking a Love & Logic parenting class for the past four weeks (we have two more classes left). Each class is 2 hours and they’re literally amazing. We both totally love them. Once we’re done, I’ll do a complete post on the course, but for now, let’s talk time outs.
Last week, we learned about “bedroom time” and how this can be a very effective way of discipline. I spent the whole week contemplating how sweet little Charlie could possibly be ready for a time out. Would she understand? Would she be traumatized? Could I be strong enough to outlast her cries and resistance?
Needless to say, I avoided the whole concept. That is, until last night.
Charlotte woke up from her afternoon nap pretty early. She was a bit on edge all afternoon and by the time we got home from the office, she was downright sassy. Lots of whining and fake crying as I was trying to make dinner.
In an attempt to really push my buttons (aka get my attention), the little one went after our sweet kitty. With two hands, she latched onto that poor kitty’s tail and pulled with all her weight.
I jumped up and fumbled out some half instinct, half love and logic phrase as I picked her up and carried her to her room… something like, “OH NO! (said in an awkward panicked voice that was crossed with a tone that attempted to sound calm and in control) Looks like somebody needs a little bedtime… I mean, bedroom time.”
Now, let me interject here by saying that this little time out really threw me off. I had no intentions of being the first to handout a time out, but the kitty tail was too far. She knows that’s a BIG no-no. Needless to say, I was a little ill-prepared for my new parenting technique and it wasn’t a totally smooth process.
Anyway…
Me: “Charlotte, would you like to take your bedroom time with the door open or closed?”
Charlotte: Without saying a word, C begins closing the door with both of us standing outside of her room.
Me: “It looks like you’ve chosen to have the door closed.”
Charlotte: Throws body face down on the floor while letting out a big whiney cry.
Me: “That’s okay. Mommy will move you and close the door,” I said as I set her down away from the door. “Mommy will start the timer once you are calm. And then, you may come out.” And then I shut the door, retreated to the kitchen and stalked the video monitor praying for the child to stop crying so I could start the timer.
She cried. Over the monitor, I said one more time, “Once you are calm, mommy will start the timer and then you may come out.”
Within 30 seconds to a minute, she settled down. I looked at the clock and started my rough timing. Within a few seconds, Charlotte managed to open the door (for the very first time ever). DAMN.
Me: (As I scoop up Charlie and bring her back into her room) Oh no. That’s so sad… Now we have to start the timer over.
I shut the door again and went back to the monitor.
Charlotte cried for a few seconds. Nothing too crazy. And then, she was calm. I set the timer for 1.5 minutes and just watched her, silently praying, “please stay calm, please stay calm.”
BEEP! BEEP! The timer went off.
I ran to her room, opened the door.
Me: “Looks like you’re calm and ready to come out. Want to give mommy a hug?”
Then we hugged it out and carried on with our food prep (she helped me this time).
Well, within 10 minutes, I heard the cat scream again. I looked over and sure as shit, Charlotte is yanking that poor kitty’s tail… AGAIN!
I grabbed Charlotte and this time in a much more Love & Logic tone said, “Uh oh. Looks like you need a little bedroom time. Would you like the door open or closed?”
She again tried to close the door with her body positioned in the hallway. “Okay, sounds like you’ve chosen to have the door closed.”
I closed the door and ran back to the monitor. This time was different. First of all, I’m about 90% sure that Charlotte pulled the poor kitty’s tail to confirm the cause/effect situation. Just one final confirmation that she had in fact ended up in a timeout due to her cat tail pulling shenanigans.
Second, she really did not throw much of a fuss. After maybe 15 seconds of mild crying, Charlotte sat down in front of the door and calmly just stared at it.
I started the timer for 1.5 minutes. “Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm.”
With about 20 seconds left, I decided to reset the timer for an additional full minute, as we had talked about 2 minutes being a good amount of time in class. Why half ass it at this point, right?
So I reset the timer and watched my silly girl. She didn’t play at all. Towards the end, she stood up and sort of paced, all while keeping her eyes on the door. I hate to laugh at her expense, but it was actually a bit silly to watch her. If nothing else, it was distracting…
BEEP! BEEP!
I opened the door. “It sounds like you’re calm and ready to come out. Would you like to give mommy a hug?”
We hugged it out and all was well.
My takeaway? I would say it was a HUGE success. Now, who knows what will happen next time, when she is less thrown off by mommy’s new trick. But the first time worked really well.
Until the next time out, I’ll ignore the fact that Charlotte’s spent a large amount of time last night and today working on opening up her bedroom door on her own.
Guys, we did the new bedtime routine with C tonight. Instead of reading books and drinking milk sitting in the glider chair in the nursery, we all snuggled up in her new big girl bed.
It was everything. Even before having Charlotte, I longed for family snuggles. Tonight was lovely.
We made SUCH great progress on C’s big girl room this weekend! The closet was a bit of a hiccup, as it ended up requiring some patching and painting, but nothing that could slow us the hubby down!
Freshly painted pink closet with grey and gold triangle wall decals! I had purchased them thinking I’d put them on a wall in the main room and then changed my mind. Figured I might as well get some use out of them in the closet. PLEASE also note that the damn growth chart ruler FINALLY made it up on a wall… 2 years later. Next step, marking her height!
We worked extra late last night so that we could have the room in a functioning state to show Charlie this morning! (As we’ve been working on the room, we’ve kept the little one out so that we could do more of a grand reveal.)
Well, this morning was that big reveal. We’re not quite done, but we’re close enough that this week we will begin doing nighttime routine in her new room (reading books, drinking milk) and have opened the room up for playing and loving. The hope is then to make the big crib-to-bed transition beginning as early as this weekend!
Anyway, since Charlie got to see it, I figured I’d share a few little sneak peek pictures on here. Once everything is complete, I’ll do a full post on all of the little things in the room, but for now, here are a few pics…
Loving her toddler mirror! She kept saying, “Hiiii! Hii! Hi!”
Loving her new bed. Should I be scared that within minutes of entering the room, she had already climbed in and out of her bed multiple times? I forsee a few nights of Charlie falling asleep on the floor after she decides she does not want to stay in her bed.
Dress up clothes box!
Story time with Nana ❤
We were only able to spend a few minutes in the room with her, but from what we could tell, she LOVED it!
Still on the agenda:
The hubs has been working hard these past few weeks (and a few weeks before that) on Charlotte’s new big girl room.
This weekend, we were finally on the last step: install the closet system.
Unfortunately, more work has arisen.
We took down the existing shelving/pole thing in the closet and decided we also had to pull off the wood rail things that were holding up the shelves above the pole.
Well, if you give a mouse a cookie…
Once we removed the wood rails, the walls looked like crap. So we decided we should paint…
But before we paint, all of the holes need to be filled in with spackle. And did I mention that we accidentally busted a little hole in the wall?
Anyway, what was going to be a tedious installation of a closet system is now a wall repair and paint project followed by the installation of a tedious closet system.
Nonetheless, hubby has been perfect and just keeps chugging away. He even took C AND Toby with him to the store to pick up spackle so I could cook dinner in peace.
I’m a lucky gal. There is no question about that…
Every single time I say a good word about my pets, one of them goes and does something to prove me wrong.
This time, it was sweet little innocent Toby (please, please sense my sarcasm). Charlotte and I were at my office. We were standing somewhat near the front door with a coworker and my parents chatting. All of a sudden I looked down and noticed Toby standing next to Charlotte.
“What the $&@!”
As I came out of my state of shock and disbelief, I realized that Toby had waltzed his sassy butt over, lifted his leg and was in the process of peeing on my sweet little girl!
I grabbed Charlotte (who was in the same state of shock as her mommy) and handed her to my mother so I could have a “chat” with Toby.
Then, I started to clean up Charlotte, whose socks, pants and bunny were covered in dog urine.
To my surprise, Charlotte seemed to understand the entire thing and proceeded to explain the situation… Over and over and over again.
She would point to Toby and say, “Daby (aka Toby) blah blah blah eh ba ba ho hum.” Then she’d point to one foot and the other.
“Yeah. Toby peed on your feet, right?” I’d say in response.
“Yeah!” Said C.
She went to every single person in the office and “explained” what happened at least 2 times.
It was just about the silliest thing ever. Here’s a video after she was winding down on the story telling…
In fact, yesterday when she told Nana, she began scolding Toby. “No! No, no, no!”
I reminded her that we had forgiven Toby and that we still loved him. She gave him kisses.
Lucky for Toby, Charlotte made it a pretty adorable little occurrence. Otherwise, he might still be in trouble.
I’m sure I will regret saying this, as I’m sure to jinx the magic, but we have had three GREAT toddler food days in a row.
Charlotte are veggies. Just picked them up and ate them. No hiding them in anything. No struggle.
She ate chicken stir fry and meatloaf.
Tonight, was her biggest meal in so long.
For dinner, she ate:
So, before you judge all the randomness, we had a “take out” night, which entails us eating a smorgasbord that my husband picks up from the deli and hot bar at our local co-op.
While part of me thinks C’s groundbreakingly improved eating habits are likely random, we have also made some significant changes lately.
Snacking on two whole wheat crackers with almond butter.
Exciting, right?
I’m definitely going to enjoy these peaceful mealtimes for as long as they last!
Taken 2/27/16
Total weight gain: So I finally decided to break down and ask my doctor how my weight gain this pregnancy compares with last pregnancy. AND, the consensus? The same! However, I am currently about 4 lbs heavier than last pregnancy, which is where I started out (AKA: my pre-pregnancy weight for this pregnancy was 4 lbs above last pregnancy).
I was actually really relieved to hear that. I don’t know why exactly, but it felt good.
And honestly, I’ve been doing really quite well with my workout routine over the past 2-3 months. I’ve been going strong at around 3 workouts per week (there were a few weeks I skipped because I was sick, etc) and actually increased to 4 times starting last week. We’ll see if I can keep it up.
It’s crazy how much better I feel when I’m working out. I feel more energized and flexible and just all around less achy and less like a giant monster hobbling around.
Maternity clothes: I still haven’t made any progress here. I should get another pair of workout pants and a sports bra and could also use a new top or two… but I haven’t decided what I’ll do with that.
Stretch marks: Still going strong with no stretchies.
Sleep: I’ve been sleeping pretty well lately. Although last night I was up with poor Charlie. She had a nightmare and woke up SCREAMING… and I mean SCREAMING at the top of her lungs… last night. Daddy went in first, but within 15 minutes of him getting back to bed, she was screaming again. It was Mommy’s turn.
Despite it being 3:30 in the morning, it was actually really sweet time with my girl. She was such a cuddle bug and just so warm and innocent.
Anyway, I digress. My sleep has been just fine.
Best moment of this week: My sweet Katiekins was back in town this weekend for her shower! I was able to see her Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The only way for it to be.
Her shower was a lot of fun! Great food and even better company!
Then Sunday, we all got together for brunch with the babies. Yes, more baby brunching! It’s so fun to have all the kiddies together. 
The other fun little snipit is that we’re continuing to make progress in Charlotte’s new room. The big girl room and bed transition is coming quickly!
Miss anything: I could go for a nice little happy hour date.
Movement: I’ll keep saying it, but this little mister is a mover and a shaker. He’s busy busy in there.
Food cravings: I haven’t been to “crave-y” this week. I mean, I love sweets, but whatever. OH! Wait… the other night I ate… hmm. What did I eat? An orange, a bag of cheddar skinny pop and a bowl of cherrios. Mark claimed it was my first little pregnancy random food binge. It was tasty.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nada.
Have you started to show yet: Today some very sweet women told me that they didn’t even notice that I was pregnant! Yahoo! Go me.
Gender: little man!
Labor signs: The Braxton Hicks have slowed down a bit, which is nice. Doc said it’s no biggy.
Belly button in or out: My belly button is a weird little stretched bump now.
Wedding rings on or off: On, but sometimes I wish off.
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy unless people are being mean. I have a very low tolerance for mean.
Looking forward to: We should be pretty darn close to done with C’s room by the end of this weekend. I literally cannot wait. We are going to start doing nighttime routine in there (reading her books in her new bed, etc) and playing in there and just sleeping in her crib at night. Then, a week or two after that, we’ll make the big transition.
And then we get to decorate the nursery! Big things.
There is still a TON to finish, which is quite overwhelming. And I just feel like there are so many things I want to get done. And of course, whenever you feel like that, you get hit with a ton of other random stupid things that try to derail you. One being my broken windshield. Definitely going to be a very unwanted expense and time-suck to get that stupid thing fixed.
Universe, please just let me spend this final trimester nesting in peace.
I wanted to come up with a fun DIY Valentine’s Day gift for Charlotte this year. I searched the Internet high and low and finally came across this Custom Memory Game.
Of course I didn’t want to just order it, so I decided to make my own version using Adobe InDesign.
Instructions:
The final result was well worth the effort and tediousness of all that cutting. Charlotte LOVES the cards. She doesn’t understand how to play Memory quite yet, but she matches the cards and loves pointing out all of her friends and family. Definitely a success!
Playing House 
