Friday, November 16, 2007

Room to Spare


We took the brave step of moving Stella from our bedroom into Francis' bedroom (there are only 2 bedrooms in our house). Fitting everything in took much deliberation with the tape measure (hint: the change table is now in our bedroom). There is no way we can fit a single more thing into that room (which is smaller than my MIL's walk-in closet!).


The goal was for everyone to get more sleep -- when Stella would stir during the night I felt pressured to soothe her (generally involving breast-feeding), which meant that Stella and I were both not sleeping through the night.


So, because Stella is now 21 months old, and healthier than she was then when she was younger, and because I am so very very tired, we thought it was time to move her out. Even though it was my idea, it was harder on me than I thought it would be to let my baby go. The first 2 weeks were hard, but she does seem to be sleeping better/longer now -- but be careful what you wish for! because now she is waking up at 5-5:30AM!


We also hoped that Francis might be happier about sleeping by himself in his room if he had a roommate (Francis likes to sleep with us because it is "so, so cozy, Mama"). We also decided to upgrade Francis' bed from the toddler bed with the infant mattress since he is bigger now. (I am a big believer in investing in good mattresses). We let him choose his bed -- he wanted a "big boy double bed", which is basically a bunk bed. We choose the "introductory bunk bed" (ie, shorter than normal) one from IKEA.


One day we might live in a house with a bedroom for each of the kids, but until then I am still lying awake at night -- scheming of ways to squeeze more shelves/storage into their room!

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Hallelujah! My Baby's Walking!



Stella took her first real, independent steps today and she was so proud, she was beaming! Oh, my pride and joy! Even six months ago I was wondering if we needed a van to accomodate a push-chair, but here she is! Walking! I am in awe of her determination, spirit and resilience.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Hallow-No!



Pumpkin design by Francis, carving by Dad.

Francis refused to go out Trick-or-Treating. Too scary. I lined up his idol (and my Mother's Helper), Olivia, to go out with him -- no. I sewed a fun Pirate costume -- emphatically no. I offered a Hallowe'en party (emphasizing the "lights on" part) with his friends -- no. For previous years I forced him to wear a costume and go trick-or-treating thinking that once out there he would have fun. I usually end up carrying him while he clutched me. So, this year I decided to respect his fears (what a concept!) and let him stay home (uncostumed) and hand out candy. We only had 10 treat-or-treaters come to the door, so it ended up OK that Francis handed out fistfuls of candy (and we still have extra!). Francis scored at daycare anyway, with trick-or-treating (uncostumed) within the Petro-Canada tower.



I dressed Stella up in her elf costume (isn't it darling? I think it turned out fine) and paraded her around to the Oldies in the neighbourhood who (appropriately!) oohed & aaahed over her. She was very happy to have crinkly wrappers to clutch and had a ball emptying her treat bag slowly and then filling it back again.

I love Hallowe'en, but I think I need to sit back and let the children decide how they want to celebrate the holiday rather than imposing my ideas on them. Actually harder to do than one might think.