My Baby is Growing Up

We had a milestone weekend. We sold our daughter’s crib. I didn’t really think it would be that big of a deal but when I got off the phone with the buyer, I suddenly realized that our lives were changing. I felt a little sad that her baby years were officially gone. The craigslist buyer came by on Sunday (yes, Mother’s Day) to pick up the crib.  I hadn’t even dismantled it yet since we let her sleep in it one last night. It was a frenzy to get it taken apart, and Lilah watched somewhat bewildered as her crib was hauled out the door and loaded into someone else’s car. I assured her that she was now a big girl and could sleep in a regular bed. We told her that her new bed was on the way.

Lilah's last night in her crib, and her first night in a big-girl bed...

Not ten minutes later my parents showed up with the new bed. We went over every detail of it with her and explained that it was special, just for her. Unfortunately, she won’t be able to sleep in it for about a week since we still have to stain and seal it. While we worked on it during the day Lilah played in the built-in toy box. It will be a big hit once it’s all done.

We temporarily moved a twin bed into her room and put all the pretty bedding on. When I went to put her down for a nap, I realized that if she wanted to just get out of bed, she could. Of course, she did! She ended up falling asleep next to grandpa watching a show on Sprout. At bedtime I had to spend much more time that usual reading and making her comfortable so she didn’t just get out of bed. She fell asleep after about 10 times of reading our usual book. One time during the night she awoke feeling a bit out of sorts, but I was able to snuggle up to her and get her back to sleep. A pillow then took my place, and she blissfully slept through the rest of the night. I can’t wait until we get the 6am wake-up from her on the weekend with her staring at us wondering why we’re not up. Like I said, life is changing! I can’t believe she’s 28 months already.

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Picking Your Battles

It’s hard to say "no" to this face!

I have a 28 month old. I don’t want to call it the terrible twos  because she’s just being independent…right? I love that she has a will of  her own, but boy, is it ever a challenge to get through everything these days! In the morning, it’s a struggle to pick clothes that are  acceptable to both of us. Throughout the day, it’s a (not fun) game trying to get her to pick up her toys.

The other night, I asked her to pick up all her magnetic letters and either put them on the fridge or in the old coffee can. She refused. I then asked her to help me do it. She just sat there and watched me. OK, I know I can’t do it for her because that is just setting myself up for the next 15-20 years of continuing to “do” for her. I decided this was a battle I was going to win and was prepared to do whatever it took to make it happen. Now I had to get tough and tell, not ask, her to do it. She still refused. I wrapped my hand around hers and helped her to pick up each letter and then released her hand making her drop it, but all that did was entertain her. She just thought it was funny. Finally I told her if she didn’t cooperate she had to go to bed. She still refused so I hauled her to the bedroom. She cried and said, “No, no”. When I asked if she would pick up her letters she said she would. I brought her back to the kitchen. When I sat her down she again refused. After going back and forth a couple of times with longer periods of time in the bedroom she finally gave in and picked everything up.

I know this process was significantly more painful for me than for her, but at least I won this round. She’s been a bit better about it this week. Next week, I’m sure there will be a whole new battle. I’d love to find out if anyone has a fun ways to teach kids to pick up after themselves.

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