I must have jinxed myself by bragging about how well Benjamin was napping in his new bed finally. Or maybe it was just a figment of my imagination....wishful thinking?? Today he finally took a two hour nap in his bed but he didn't nap at all the 3 days prior. And on top of that...he's been waking up an hour earlier each day...fun for us!!
Saturday was a particularly rude awakening. Usually Benjamin wakes around 7:30 (I know...we're very lucky!) So imagine my surprise when I was laying in bed Saturday morning and the door opened at 6:15am! Benjamin thought he was so funny...he snuck over to Nate's side of the bed and declared "I'm awake!" while turning on the light. Nate asked him to turn the light off and go back to bed...and he seemed to comply.
A few minutes later I heard a noise from the living room...."SZZZZSSSSH" "SZZZSSSSHHH" I thought that he must be playing with his "welding" toy. He came into the bedroom and went to Nate's side of the bed again "SZZZSSSSHHHH" and I hear Nate saying...."What?? What the...Oh...No....MY EYES!!!! MY EYES!!!" Benjamin wasn't playing with his welding toy...he had reached a bottle of Febreze air freshner...and he had sprayed it into Nate's face just as he'd opened his eyes!" Luckily there was no permanent damage....and now I have to store the chemicals even higher so Benjamin can't reach them!!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Rock On!
The other night we went ot dinner with our friend Elizabeth ("Auntie Eli".) Since it was a weekend (and everything would be SO crowded) we decided to try a new pizza place near our house called "Rolling Stone Pizza." I had seen it before when I patronized the nail salong next door. It looked clean and decent. The other great thing was that they have locally brewed beer on tap (Oceanside Ale Works!)
We arrived at the restaurant to find a group of teenagers and...a band! We sat as far away from the mayhem as we could get in the tiny establishment and ordered our food. While we waited the band began doing a sound check with the drums and microphones. Benjamin didn't like that at ALL! He kept complaining that it was too loud. I thought uh oh...we're going to have to take our food home to eat!
Eventually a pimply faced teenager with long curly hair and a Guns N' Roses t-shirt stepped up to the microphone. "Our band is called Schizophrenic...and this is our first gig!" GREAT....and teenage band that has never played in public before....just what I wanted to hear! Then they started playing...speed metal. It was a song that Nate recognized from the band "Slayer." I'm not a huge fan of speed metal...but they really weren't half bad! I was pleasantly surprised. I was however worried about Benjamin. I didn't need to worry though...when I looked over at him Benjamin had a HUGE smile on his face, he coloring book quickly became his "guitar" and he started rocking out. He was banging his head like he was in the mosh pit at a Metallica concert! He was having so much fun! I wonder if Benjamin is over his love of disco now?
We arrived at the restaurant to find a group of teenagers and...a band! We sat as far away from the mayhem as we could get in the tiny establishment and ordered our food. While we waited the band began doing a sound check with the drums and microphones. Benjamin didn't like that at ALL! He kept complaining that it was too loud. I thought uh oh...we're going to have to take our food home to eat!
Eventually a pimply faced teenager with long curly hair and a Guns N' Roses t-shirt stepped up to the microphone. "Our band is called Schizophrenic...and this is our first gig!" GREAT....and teenage band that has never played in public before....just what I wanted to hear! Then they started playing...speed metal. It was a song that Nate recognized from the band "Slayer." I'm not a huge fan of speed metal...but they really weren't half bad! I was pleasantly surprised. I was however worried about Benjamin. I didn't need to worry though...when I looked over at him Benjamin had a HUGE smile on his face, he coloring book quickly became his "guitar" and he started rocking out. He was banging his head like he was in the mosh pit at a Metallica concert! He was having so much fun! I wonder if Benjamin is over his love of disco now?
Monday, January 14, 2008
Dream Weaver
So Benjamin made a pretty big transition last week....he went from sleeping in his crib to sleeping in a "big boy" bed. Actually..it's a toddler bed that used the same mattress and, because it is SO low to the ground, actually appears smaller than his crib. But it is definitely a bed for a "big boy!"
Last Saturday we dragged the big box into the living room and Benjamin "helped" his Daddy build his new bed. He was actually doing very well...I had expected him to balk at the idea of a new bed...he was VERY attached to his crib. After the bed was put together we dismantled the crib and took it out to the garage. Again...no protest from Benjamin. We made the new bed with the new bedding I had purchased (Matching sheets, quilt and pillow shams with a train theme from Pottery Barn Kids.) and put all of his "babies" in their place. He brought over his "pillow bear" and placed it just where his head would lay at night. He was so excited he couldn't wait to climb in the bed! I thought, "Wow...this is going better than I expected!" But little did I know!!
Nap time the first day did NOT go well. He could not stay in the bed. We tried everything...talking to him, praising him for his efforts, threatening time outs if he got up....nothing worked. He didn't nap at all that first day but luckily, since he was so exhausted, he slept well that night. The next day was worse than the first. Not only would he NOT stay in bed but now he was taking all of the little toys he could find (airplanes, little people, cards, etc.) and DUMPING them in the middle of his bed. So each time he came out of his bedroom I had to clean everything off the bed before I could put him back in it...UGH!! I realized then that the transition was going to be just a little bit tougher and longer than I expected, but I was committed to helping him through it!
A few days into the "big boy bed" experience he began asking for his crib back. He said "I'm not a big boy Mommy...I'm a baby!" He told me he wanted his crib back or that he wanted to sleep in his Pack n' Play...one night he threatened to sleep on the floor. He told me his big boy bed was "scary" one day and I tried to explain how sometimes new things (or change) can be scary, but that after awhile we can get used to it. It's been just over a week and I am SO proud to announce that Benjamin has slept in his new bed for two naps in a row!! He IS such a big boy!!
During this whole transition Benjamin seemed to sleep just fine at night (thank goodness!) But one thing I did notice was that he seemed to be having very vivid dreams at night. A few morning he woke up and began talking about them...in one dream there was a lot of "traffic" but Diego helped us. In another dream there were pumpkins that were both scared AND scary and still another dream had a "monster" and a snake at church. It's so interesting that he would remember these dreams so well in the morning! It's also a great opportunity to talk about the difference between what is real and what is not real. The other day he asked me is he could have more "bad dreams." I asked him what he meant...he wanted to see the pumpkins again! I guess scary and scared pumpkins aren't that frightening after all!
I have photos (of course) of the whole experience....I'll post them as soon as they are uploaded to my computer!
Last Saturday we dragged the big box into the living room and Benjamin "helped" his Daddy build his new bed. He was actually doing very well...I had expected him to balk at the idea of a new bed...he was VERY attached to his crib. After the bed was put together we dismantled the crib and took it out to the garage. Again...no protest from Benjamin. We made the new bed with the new bedding I had purchased (Matching sheets, quilt and pillow shams with a train theme from Pottery Barn Kids.) and put all of his "babies" in their place. He brought over his "pillow bear" and placed it just where his head would lay at night. He was so excited he couldn't wait to climb in the bed! I thought, "Wow...this is going better than I expected!" But little did I know!!
Nap time the first day did NOT go well. He could not stay in the bed. We tried everything...talking to him, praising him for his efforts, threatening time outs if he got up....nothing worked. He didn't nap at all that first day but luckily, since he was so exhausted, he slept well that night. The next day was worse than the first. Not only would he NOT stay in bed but now he was taking all of the little toys he could find (airplanes, little people, cards, etc.) and DUMPING them in the middle of his bed. So each time he came out of his bedroom I had to clean everything off the bed before I could put him back in it...UGH!! I realized then that the transition was going to be just a little bit tougher and longer than I expected, but I was committed to helping him through it!
A few days into the "big boy bed" experience he began asking for his crib back. He said "I'm not a big boy Mommy...I'm a baby!" He told me he wanted his crib back or that he wanted to sleep in his Pack n' Play...one night he threatened to sleep on the floor. He told me his big boy bed was "scary" one day and I tried to explain how sometimes new things (or change) can be scary, but that after awhile we can get used to it. It's been just over a week and I am SO proud to announce that Benjamin has slept in his new bed for two naps in a row!! He IS such a big boy!!
During this whole transition Benjamin seemed to sleep just fine at night (thank goodness!) But one thing I did notice was that he seemed to be having very vivid dreams at night. A few morning he woke up and began talking about them...in one dream there was a lot of "traffic" but Diego helped us. In another dream there were pumpkins that were both scared AND scary and still another dream had a "monster" and a snake at church. It's so interesting that he would remember these dreams so well in the morning! It's also a great opportunity to talk about the difference between what is real and what is not real. The other day he asked me is he could have more "bad dreams." I asked him what he meant...he wanted to see the pumpkins again! I guess scary and scared pumpkins aren't that frightening after all!
I have photos (of course) of the whole experience....I'll post them as soon as they are uploaded to my computer!
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