It started with the search for a new bed for the Munch. She has almost outgrown the toddler bed she's been in since turning 3, and we knew we needed something raised so we would be able to fit 2 beds plus other furniture into that tiny bedroom. We searched craigslist and other online or brick and mortar stores for a while, but it took all summer before we finally settled on one from Walmart. Not my favorite store...but it was our price range, my preference for type (white painted wood), and the thing is SOLID, so I can't complain too hard.
The bed arrived while Daddy was out of town. A huge, heavy box that the UPS guy didn't even wait around to get a signature for--he dropped it on the porch, rang the bell, and ran off, leaving me to drag the hefty thing far enough into the house that I could close the door. Nice... :/ We had to wait for Daddy to get back home before it could be set up--it was too bulky for me to want to try it by myself--but of course the morning that Daddy was home and able to get started on it was also the morning we'd made plans with friends to go to the beach. It was a much cooler day than we'd expected, but it was our first beach excursion of the summer, believe it or not, and the Munch was looking forward to the trip too much for me to cancel. So we left Daddy like this:
We headed out to the beach, and just about had the place to ourselves, which was actually kinda nice. The Mini, much like her sister at this age, was not keen on the sand...
For the longest time, she refused to put her feet down firmly, and kept picking them up and holding them up in a very determined way.
Eventually she started keeping both feet down...but that little sideways glare says it all... ;)
It really wasn't so terribly cold, but the wind was pretty stiff, so the Munch insisted on wearing her jacket the entire time we were there.
By the time we got home, Daddy had finished the bed. All it needed were a few 'Mama' touches. I'd purchased some picture frame-holding shelves to go along the top of her bed rail so she would have a place for things like a water bottle or nightlight, so I fastened those to the wall, then made the bed in the Tigger and Pooh sheets that my sister gave the Munch back when she was practically still an infant...I've been WAITING SO LONG to be able to use these, and it was so fun to finally get them out!
The finished product. Of course there are several 'favored stuffed friends' to keep her company up there. :)
We kept the toddler bed for about a week under the loft, just in case the Munch had any issues with sleeping up high and needed a break from it. But just like when we'd first transferred her from crib to toddler bed, she was so excited about having a new bed that she never looked back.
So a week later, this past Friday, I took the plunge, and took out the toddler bed, and set up the crib. Such an exciting moment. The Munch was practically bouncing up and down in excitement at the prospect of finally sharing with her sister. We've told her for a long time that this is what would happen eventually, so I guess that anticipation has been building in a positive way for a while now. But I spent all day long working on that room. It was very messy, for one thing. Her dresser was all covered with outgrown clothes I needed to sort and odds and ends that needed to be thrown out or put in the right containers, and there were other random things scattered throughout the room that just made for an irritation every time I looked at it. So after I set up the crib, I sorted the clothes, washed laundry, hung up a mesh toy sack that's perfect for small stuffed toys, re-purposed a couple of toy bins for other toys thanks to that sack, moved some hooks, raised a closet shelf and rehung everything that had been hanging on it (her dresses are getting longer and needed more space...), and put up a couple of curtains that I'd found downstairs...and I made a trip to Target somewhere in the middle of all that to get a couple other things I needed to finish the job. It was a busy day. But SO worth it. The room is beautiful now. :D
From the doorway and from by the dresser--you can see her little stuffed-toy sack hanging up in the corner above her bed. The Munch SORTED which toys would go in which section--all the cats went together, all the wild animals together, all the critters that Daddy's bought her from trips together--it was fun to watch her do that on her own.
So happy together!
A sweet little nook with the vanity hides behind the curtain I put up on the loft bed to keep that area darker for the Mini, and the taller curtain hides the closet where so much clutter likes to grow--it feels nice to finally have it covered up, even if the curtain isn't floor to ceiling. It's tall enough. :)
That next day, I put the Mini in her crib for both naptimes, and she did very, very well with them. She slept nearly 3 hours that afternoon alone! But nighttime was a different story. She cried and cried, and we felt very bad for having subjected the Munch to that, so we didn't make it go on for too long. After no more than about a half hour, I went in to remove the Mini to her pack and play in our room...But I was greeted by the Munch with a 'No! Don't take her out! I'm calling to her when she's crying so she can go to sleep.' Such sweet, sweet sister love. But I did take the Mini out, and she fell asleep quickly after that.
We skipped any crib stuff on Sunday because we were out of the house almost all day...We didn't even get home until almost 10pm...Not an ideal time to try something that's still brand new with kiddos. So tonight we tried again. And lo and behold, the Mini gradually stopped crying after perhaps only 10 or 15 minutes. Daddy and I congratulated ourselves a little, and settled in happily to watch a movie together, but no less than 5 minutes into it, we started to hear the Munch calling to us. I hurried to the room, opened the door, and was greeted with a (rather loud) 'Her music turned off. We need to turn it back on again so she can sleep.' The Mini uses the same music box that the Munch used, and it automatically shuts off after 20 minutes. I'd failed to explain this to the Munch... So I asked her now, in a whisper, if she actually still needed it, trying to help her see that perhaps it was ok that the music was off. And what did our eldest do? She went right over to the crib and poked her nose as close to it as she could, and said, again loudly, 'Yes, I think so'...and suddenly, not surprisingly, the Mini started squirming and wailing again. Oh dear. I turned the music back on, gave the Munch a quick but firm talk about music and related expectations, helped her back into bed, and closed the door...
Then I went back out to the living room and pounded my head against a pillow a few times to keep myself from laughing too hard. So far, except for a quick bathroom visit, we haven't heard another peep since...Fingers crossed that the rest of the night goes so well!
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