Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

From Friday Mom – Erin:
Rory’s big boy bed arrives tomorrow. Rather than buy baby girl a full new set of baby furniture, we’re passing down Rory’s old crib and dresser and getting him new furniture.  We’ve been doing out best to get him prepared over the past month or so. We’ve been reading an Elmo book about being ready for a bed. We’ve been talking about sleeping in a big boy bed, how fun it will be to read stories in bed together, and how much fun it will be to snuggle under the covers in his big kid bed.

We know that we’ve got our work cut out for us in terms of making the transition. I’d been planning on leaving his crib in the room to help ease the transition, though his daddy has been reading other parenting websites and generally reading up on the “recommended” approach for such a transition. We’re currently leaning toward removing the crib entirely, recognizing, of course, that we may have a few long nights ahead of us if he doesn’t immediately take to the new bed.

I wish I could say we’d devised a fantastic plan, but the truth is, life has been so busy lately that we’re largely going to be winging it. Apart from making sure all of his furniture is safely anchored to the wall and blocking his bedroom door with a gate to ensure that he stays safe, we’re not entirely sure how it will all work out. But, as with most other milestones, we’re pretty sure it will work out eventually. Or at least that is what we are hoping.

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
Like most families, ours is very busy. My husband works all different hours of the day. I try to keep up with the kids and house the best I can. It is hard, but rewarding work. At the end of the day we try to eat dinner as a family, every night, if we can.

Our family dinners are the way to catch up with each other. Since my husband isn’t around for most of the day, he usually asks the boys about what they did in school, tests, grades, sports or anything that made them feel happy or sad. The boys will either talk a lot or eat a lot, seldom both.

It’s great to hear the boys talk about something they learned or something they thought was neat. Often they’ll ask random questions like “why don’t birds get electrocuted when they sit on power lines?” Their little minds are so fascinating. Some meals go great; some don’t, especially when they aren’t fond of the entrée.

As the kids grow up, I know there will be times where we all can’t eat together as a family. I want our kids to know dinnertime is important, not only for our bodies, but our minds, too. I look forward to many more dinner dates with my boys. We are a stronger family because of these moments.

From Monday Mom – Neetika:
I was really looking forward to our family’s annual holiday photo shoot. We never did newborn photos for Hudson, so we were overdue to get nice shots. We nearly didn’t get an appointment for our session due to random bad luck, but everything worked out in the end. We had the same photographer as last year, Angela. She is nice and professional and we really liked her assistant, too.

We were a bit cheesy this year with our coordinating outfits but I hadn’t put Haley and Hudson in matching clothes yet, and I was sort of dying to. I was nervous that Hudson was too young too cooperate but he did pretty well. It’s so hard to coordinate timing with a baby so small. I tried to bring him in well rested and well fed, but he was a little cranky. Luckily, Angela is experienced and she snapped away during the two minutes he was alert and not screaming. Fingers crossed that in that brief period we got our Christmas card shot!

Haley usually loves getting her picture taken, but she was a little reserved at the shoot. Don’t get me wrong—she still smiled well and made us laugh with her antics, but it wasn’t quite the pep in her step we are used to. Then abruptly, as we were about to take our final shots, she decided she was done and would not take another photo. I was surprised, and a bit embarrassed to be honest, but I guess we did as well as a family with two under three could hope to do. Each of us is getting over a cold, too, so I’d say we performed valiantly.

Good luck capturing your family this holiday season! Next stop, Santa.