Sleepy Snuggly Boy

I just love how Oliver sleeps.  I always lay him down in the middle of his bed.   When I go in to check on him later, he has usually scootched way up to the top of his bed with his face plastered in his bears.

  

Other times, he might be having a hard time falling asleep and all I have to do is give him something to snuggle up to and he goes right off to sleep.  

I love this little snuggle bug.  

Big Girl Bed Party

Well, Madeline has had a big girl bed in her room for several months now.  She asked for one and was totally on board with the idea when we got it.  She knew her crib was going to be taken down and put away.  But, once we got the big bed,  she only wanted to sleep in her baby bed.  She loves it.  Who can blame her?  She has slept in it for her whole life.  Her room has been very crowded with a crib and a big girl bed.  So, we decided it was time to help push her along into big-girl-hood.  Andrew came up with the idea to have a Big Girl Bed Party.  

We talked about it all weekend with her.  She knew that her party meant that she was going to sleep in her big girl bed.  She picked out cake and icing at the store and helped me make cupcakes.  (Which I believe are the first cupcakes I have ever made.  Sad, but true.)  She did an amazing job of putting the sprinkles on.  Not necessarily the cleanest with all the finger licking.  But, we weren't sharing them with anyone anyways.        

After dinner, we ate our cupcakes.  She had a "b" candle for "big girl".  

She ate all the icing off and got another dollop with sprinkles on the same cupcake.  Hey, it was her party.  While she scrubbed the entire outside and inside of the tub with conditioner took her bath, Andrew took down her crib and moved her bed to where her crib used to be.  He even added balloons.  We took off the cute quilt and sheet so it would be more like what she was used to.    

After her bath, she came into her room and burst into tears, asking for her baby bed.  We were expecting this.  But, we still felt so bad for her.  Andrew offered her a Toaster Strudel and she seemed to calm down.  She walked with me down to the car to get a special pillow that she picked out at the store for her big girl bed.  We talked about the moon and she asked me where we put her baby bed.  But, she wasn't crying anymore.    

So, we came back inside for some Toaster Strudel and book time.  

See how happy Toaster Strudels make her!

By the time she was ready for bed, she was happy to snuggle, sing songs and pray in her bed.  She seemed proud that she was going to sleep in it.  After we said goodnight, I heard her come to the door once and wiggle the door knob.  I went to check on her and she was climbing back into her bed.  She said she heard thunder.  (She didn't.)  I heard her come to the door one more time.  But, I just let it go.  When I checked on her later, she was sound asleep in her big girl bed.  She slept there until 9am this morning.  

I didn't mention the worst part of this story yet.  We also decided that this would be a good time to start limiting pacis to just the bed.  We figured we would just do 2 hard transitions at one time.  So, this morning when she got out of bed, I told her she had to leave her pacis in the bed and I just watched her little heart break in two.  She cried hard for about 20 minutes.  She didn't want breakfast, cartoons, computer games or anything.  Just her paci.  I gave her some juice and she started calming down.  I told her if she needed her paci then she could sit in her bed with it.  So, she did.  She would say, "I just suck on it a couple more minutes."  Eventually, she came out of her room and we got dressed and ready to go to Dunkin Donuts to celebrate her sleeping in her big girl bed.  The day has gone pretty well so far.  She has asked for the paci.  But, has not cried for it.  She was happy to have her pacis at naptime.  But, it has been 2 hours since I have laid her down and she is still playing in her bed.  She has gotten up and turned on her heater, got things from her kitchen for a tea party and taken down all her balloons instead of going to sleep.  I guess she will go to sleep fine tonight.  I'm guessing that it will take a few days for her to get used to the new sleeping arrangements and hopefully it won't take several hours to actually fall asleep.

The funny thing is, I actually think she has grown up a little bit.  Did you notice that there are a few pictures with her looking at the camera?  And today at the park, she was happy to talk to some of the other kids instead of being so shy.  We sure do love our big girl!          

The Pull Girls

We had some wonderful guests last weekend.  Xandra and Theia's parents went out of town which meant that Madeline got some fun playmates for the weekend. 

We headed to a park on Saturday for a picnic and some fun time outside.   

Oliver loved getting down in the dirt (and tasting the mulch a little bit too).  

Bath time was really exciting around here.  The girls could hardly wait for Oliver to be done with his bath.  

Theia woke up feeling a little sick on Monday morning.  So, the girls had a little "veg" time on the couch.

We got to hang out with Aliyah, their little sister, a little bit too when their mom, my friend Trisha, came to pick them up.  Wouldn't it be cute if Aliyah (AH-leigh-uh) and Oliver got married one day.  Their names would be so cute together :)

We're excited to hang out again in September when Pull baby #4 comes along!

The Big 10000

We hit our first major milestone with our van. (I feel like she deserves a name.  I'll be working on that.)  She hit 10,000 miles last Sunday on our way home from church.  

The Bumpy Road

That's what Madeline likes to call this work of art.  I think I can definitely see it.  

Papa's Graduation

Papa Paul, Andrew's dad, has been on the board of trustees at Nyack College for more than 30 years.  Because of this and many other accomplishments, Nyack College chose to honor him with an Honorary Doctorate of Laws on May 8th.    

So, we headed up to New York to watch Papa graduate. We stayed at The Tarrytown House.  It was beautiful.  We began the day with a wonderful brunch to honor the honorees.  

His biography even included Madeline and Oliver.

The two other honorees, the president of Nyack College and Papa. 

Papa's proud family!

After brunch, we headed to Nyack's graduation ceremony.  If you start from the guy in purple, Papa is the 2nd to his left with the big smile on his face.  :)

The graduates got to walk in to a bagpipe band.

Madeline cheering and waving to Papa on stage.  

Oliver cheering (in his own way) too.

Papa getting hooded.  (I guess that is what you call it.  Although it sounds like he got relocated to a bad part of town.)

After the graduation, we went back to Tarrytown, which is quite the quaint little town, for high tea.  We played outside for a little while before it started.  

Well, Oliver didn't play.  He caught up on a little sleep.

Madeline is getting pretty good at these tea parties.  She was excited that she got to go to a real life tea party.  She actually got strawberry lemonade and ate pizza instead of sandwiches and scones.  But, she had a good time.   

Congratulations to Papa Paul!  We are so proud of you!

What are you so proud of?

I can tell already that this little guy is going to be up to no good.  He can already pull up on this bouncy seat and climb up into it.  You can see the bruise on his forehead from crawling and getting into things. (No, I didn't drop him.  I told you I caught him that last time.)

He tries to open cabinets and pulls over things like baskets, buckets and urns, as he moves around the living room.  

  We lowered his crib this week.  It is a good thing.  Because this is what happens when I lay him down to sleep now.  Not a lot of sleeping.

 

I'm pretty sure this is asking for trouble.  It sure would be nice to have a little lock on the swing that kept it from swinging because he makes a beeline for this as soon as he sees it now.

Even the doctor said at his last appointment that he is the type of baby that I really need to baby proof the house for.  Speaking of last appointment,  Oliver now weighs 16 lb 7 oz (30%), is 27 1/2 inches tall (80%) and his head is 44 1/2 cm (70%).  So, he is tall and thin like his sister.