Picture of the day

Transitioning

When I first converted Ellie's crib into the toddler bed, everything went smoothly. She loved her newfound freedom! She went to bed without complaint! She slept in! I silently congratulated myself on having such an adaptable child. Until three days later and she was refusing to get in her bed or Disney couch at night. Tom and I would go through her nightly routine and then leave the room, firmly shutting the door behind us. Ellie would happily play alone in her darkened bedroom until she would fall asleep curled up in the corner among her toys. Night after night, I would sneak into her room and gently carry her to her bed (after taking some adorable pictures first, of course). This new sleep arrangement was working, but we noticed that Ellie has been really difficult lately. She throws temper tantrums over the slightest things and refuses even the smallest requests. Tom and I quickly realized that she is just too tired. She stays up late playing in her room every night only to be awakened at 6:00 every morning to go to school. Tonight, Tom had a track meet, so it was just me doing the nighttime routine. An hour went by and I could still hear Ellie playing in her room. I slipped into her bedroom and curled up onto her crib/toddler bed. She soon joined me, dragging her blanket along with her. It was so peaceful, just lying there next to her, faces inches apart, while she pointed to various parts of my face and whispered, "ear, eyes, nose, hair." Before I knew it, I was fast asleep...and so was Ellie.

Big girl bed - Take II

Getting a head-start on the terrible two's

Saturday was a really busy day for us. Ellie and I ran errands in the morning, then we went to watch Tom’s track meet (when I say Tom’s track meet, you know I mean watch Tom coach his team at a track meet, right? Cuz he isn’t really running. Just wanted to clarify.). Tom is convinced that if Ellie watches enough track meets then she will want to be a runner, too. Anyway, after the track meet, Ellie and I went to the big new HEB (whoop!) to pick up an ice cream cake for my friend Steph’s baby shower. I stupidly parked the cart too close to the cakes while I was waiting for the cake lady to write “I vote Hudson” on Steph’s cake. I looked over just in time to see Ellie grabbing several mini cakes from a nicely arranged stack. I sternly told her, “No, Ellie, put them back.” She gave me a defiant smile and then swiped her arm, deliberately knocking over ALL of the cakes. Onto the floor. In a big cake-y mess. I was horrified. The cake lady was really nice and brushed aside my offers to pay. But you can bet I was wishing there was a nice corner in that grocery store to put Ellie into time out.

Ellie has been such a little stinker lately that I was really relieved to put her to bed early and leave Tom at home while I went to the shower. Steph is so cool. She had her baby shower at a coffee house/ bar/ lounge. Then everyone went to watch Guy Forsythe perform, but I was too worn out from Ellie to join them. Still, it was nice to have a night out with the girls and forget about being a mommy for awhile (even though a lot of the talk was about cloth diapers and pumps and whatnot, it still didn’t feel like a baby shower).

Big girl bed?