We’ve had so many big kid milestones already this year…down
with the baby gates…up with the highchairs…hello, cups without lids (at least
for snack time)…and our get-around-town stroller hasn’t seen action in months
and months.
As I describe our two most recent milestones, you may shake
your head at the way I still “baby” the girls in some respects. That may be a valid accusation…but I can only
say that I have to take baby steps with my babies big kids.
When I posted pictures of my sleeping beauty one time
earlier in the year, most of the comments glossed over how stinkin’ adorable my
slumbering Baby A was with her tush in the air…in favor of something along the
lines of, “Wow! You STILL have them in
sleep sacks?”
Yes, my girls STILL wear sleep sacks, and they STILL sleep
in cribs. And, up until a couple of
weeks ago, I was STILL adhering to the AAP guidelines for infants having no
suffocation hazards in said cribs.
That’s
right…at almost four, our girlies were still sleeping in a bare bed. (I still put them on their backs to sleep,
but they tend to contort themselves into various positions…and I have finally
come to be OK with that.) :)
So what happened a couple of weeks ago? Well, the girlies were battling colds. Hubby and I talked about it, thinking – given
their congestion – they might be more comfortable with a pillow.
I told them their pediatrician suggested it, so as to set
the stage that pillows are not toys.
They were so tickled to welcome their [very flat] pillows into their
beds cribs, and I’m thankful to report they’ve done great! Mark it down…our girls use pillows!
That was definitely a momentous occasion. How could I even consider allowing another
milestone???
I can only say that I’m very brave.
IN ADDITION to the pillows, our girls are now using regular
silverware!!!
Since the girls started using utensils (at age two…LATE, I
know!), we’ve stuck with the kiddie-sized forks and spoons. Hubby again suggested a few days ago that
they might make less mess (always a plus) if they had bigger spoons to reign in
their jambalaya.
The silverware we use has always felt kind of oversized to
me (it’s sleek and heavy and makes me feel very sophisticated…HA!), so I dug
around and found an old set that I have from my mom.
The girls took immediately to using the spoons and salad
forks. “I’m just like a little adult!” B
exclaimed the first day.
Yes…yes, you are. Don’t
remind me, Honey.
But I guess I can handle this change, too…as long as I get
to lay my TINY BABES down in their CRIBS come nightfall.
Deep breaths.
9 comments:
Mandy, you know I love you but I HOWLED with laughter!
Send them to me for a week and we will teach them to sleep in real beds with blankets :) :)
I'm so glad you allowed the babies to sleep with pillows! BTW, I kept our breastfeeding pillows (HAHAHAHA!) for the longest time because they make excellent props for the babies' bodies especially when they're all clogged up with colds and flu.
I'm still at work and because I had a LONG shopping lunch (new shoes. new bag, lots of clothes for kids :)) I'll be working a bit late.
Okay, I may have giggled a little at how very, very brave you were to allow your children (at nearly 4 yrs old) to sleep with pillows.:-)
As far as the utensils, mine use regular flatware at home, but (whispered confession from this supposedly laid-back loosey-goosey mom) I still carry a baggy of small plastic spoons in my purse. Some restaurants have enormouse spoons! They barely fit in my mouth, how are my little kids supposed to use them?
These transitions seem small, but they are just one step closer to growing up. As your sweet little B so eloquently put it, they are "just like little adults!"
Did I mention we're shopping for twin beds, possibly bunk beds! If you don't hurry you'll miss toddler beds all together!! I kid!
I let the girls have pillows last Christmas at 2.5, and they are the flattest pillows you can find. I am still using the baby utensils though because full size is just way too big for these tiny mouths, not to mention the nightmares I've had about them shoving forks down their throats!!!
Sweet friend... baby them all you want!!! Remember, my girls were 3 and a half before we transitioned to taking the rails off the cribs and four before they got 'real beds'.
Enjoy your babies (and your 'little adults') - they are only little once!!!
Oh Mandy, you have to stop calling them babies! You make me smile all the time. And just skip the toddler beds. My best advice.
Hehehe...sweet. I have the most gorgeous family heirloom crib ever - that my daughter refused to sleep in at all. In the end I decided sleep was more important to me than where it happened and we've been co-sleeping since then. She also has her own regular bed, which i assume she will at some point just go to on her own...if not, I might.
We also did the special small cutlery for her, but she will switch them with yours when you're not looking so I don't worry about it. She's not allowed to have a regular knife though (and I cut her food for her anyway, so why would she need one). I'm sure we'll get there pretty soon though.
Way to be brave, Mandy!! : )
We are slowly transitioning to regular silverware too. A & M have been using regular-sized spoons for awhile, because they make MUCH less mess as opposed to trying to eat cereal with a spoon that will hold approximately two cheerios!
It's funny because when my first daughter turned 2 we went big girl bed shopping and she has been in a twin bed ever since. She looked so tiny in it for so long!
With my twins, they are still in cribs at 3.5 but they've had a pillow (and countless stuffed friends) for a good year now. I'm not having any more kids and they've been relatively content in there so why rush it? Plus, it's not like a toddler bed is any bigger. We did took the the side off the crib when they started climbing out. At their insistence last week, we removed the bed rail. Now every night around 9:30 we hear the familiar thump of one of them rolling off the bed. It's only about 8" and they never fully wake up!
When they turn 4, they are getting big girl twin beds but given their propensity for falling out, I think I'm going to be a stickler for the bed rail! They'll have much further to fall, after all.
my kids are still in cribs, too!! :) ....but sleep sacks...sigh. those have been gone for the last 4 months or so. somehow, m learned that she could unzip it. we would come in and she would be in the bed shivering b/c she had taken it off. we tried to get her to leave it on, but it was unsuccessful. so we switched to blankets then. so now we have blankets and pillows. it is crazy to look in their cribs sometimes and think about just a year ago...
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