Enjoy It! and Hang in There!

I've learned two things in my short tenure as the parent of an infant, now a toddler:

1) If something is going well in the life of your child, "Enjoy it!" because it will probably only last a week or two.

2) If something is not going so well in the life of your child, "Hang in there!" because it will probably only last a week or two.

As I mentioned in my last post, we transitioned Brady to a toddler bed. He took to it like a champ and bedtime had became both predictible and smooth.

Step 1: Bath and/or jammies.
Step 2: Read three books in the glider and enjoy a sippy of cold milk.
Step 3: Turn off the lights, turn on Twilight Turtle and listen to three "mama" songs while settling down for sleep.
Step 4: Lay in bed and get back rubs from mom for three minutes.
Step 5: Drift off to sleep after mom leaves the room.

This lasted about two weeks and it was glorious. We wondered to ourselves this weekend when bedtime became so easy. And that should have been our "heads-up" that things were about to change.

The past two days, bedtime has been anything but smooth. Brady doesn't want to go upstairs for bathtime. Brady doesn't want to climb up in the chair for books. Brady doesn't want to lay in his bed for back rubs. And Brady definitely does not want to drift off to sleep after mom and dad leave the room. Instead, Brady is sitting up as soon as we get up from the floor and he's out of bed as soon as we leave the room. He comes to the gate at the top of the stairs screaming and he continues to cry as we walk him back to bed. Last night I gave up and rocked him in the chair until he fell fast asleep. Tonight, Tim gave up and put him in his crib. We are going to try to put him back into his toddler bed. We'll see how the night goes. Sufficed to say, I'm not planning on getting a lot of sleep. It might have to be a Starbuck's kind of morning!

So now I am hoping that the old lesson holds true yet again - and this stage in Brady's life only lasts one week versus two.

Oh The Shame!

SEVEN MONTHS AND NO POST!? Shame on the mama! Now how on Earth can I update the past seven months in one post? Well I suppose I can just tell you what kind of little boy our Brady has grown into. It is certain that he's no longer a baby!

On The Move
Brady is running, climbing up stairs, scooting down stairs, climbing up on the couch, closing doors and trying to open them back up. He's still pushing anything that will slide or roll across the floor - especially the trash cans and laundry baskets upstairs. He still enjoys his school and is now in the toddler classroom with Ms. Cheree, Ms. Luciana and Ms. Nadine. Many of his friends from the infant room are still in class with him.

Chat Stew
At school and home alike, Brady can be found reading, singing, chatting and laughing. His favorite books still include Little Quack and The Pokey Little Puppy. But he's added to the list One Hungry Monster, Are You My Mother?, Little Quack's New Friend and There's A Wocket in My Pocket to the list. He loves to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "The Itsty Bitsy Spider" and "The Wheels on the Bus." I think he tries to sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" on his own, too. The first word he says in the morning is 'eat' and I think his favorite word is 'exit.' He also says car, bye bye, more, eight, spoon, Emma, lights, book, ball, blue, green, yellow, no, uh oh, turtle, beep beep, 'what's that?' and 'I've got it.'

Bedtime

Brady is about to be 18 months old. He's in the process of moving from his crib to his toddler bed. We're currently reading books and napping in the toddler bed quite comfortably and peacefully. He's still got that darn paci, though, and we're not even trying to take it away. He doesn't need his pacifier at school and we're just fine with that arrangement for now. He's not ready to give it up at home and we're trying to move along at his pace with both the paci and the bed.

Helping Hands

Brady is also an excellent helper at school and at home. He helps his teachers pick up books and toys. His teachers report that he appears to help his friends read books at school, too. At home he goes to get his highchair when it's time to eat and he pushes it back in the corner when he's done. He throws trash in the garbage can and closes the safety gates on the stairs. He also likes to help put his dirty dishes in the sink and he feeds the dogs their dinner. He also brings the dogs their toys. He's still learning that he can't take them back afterward, though. Billy does not help with this lesson. He lets Brady do just about anything he wants - including sitting and bouncing on him.

Some new developments include swim class and a couple new teeth.