Thank you, Thomas!

Ralph spent Friday night out of the crib and on the "big boy" bed laying on his floor! We'd ask him once in awhile if he'd want to sleep on the mattress and the answer was no or he'd point to the crib. Even last night we tried to talk up sleeping on Thomas but it didn't sink in until he and Mike went upstairs to go to bed. He acted like he wanted to sleep in the crib until . . .he saw the Thomas the Train sheet on his bed! Mike did lay with him for a few minutes but Ralph was awake when he left. Mike had to return to Ralph's room about an hour later as he was whining about something but he did sleep until his normal wake-up time around 6:45 am and he stayed in bed until we came to greet him.

Saturday night update: Ralph requested to sleep in the crib tonight. Hopefully he'll want to sleep on Thomas again soon. We may give him a week and then make the decision for him as we need to move the crib over to Henry's room before we unswadddle him and that time may be getting close.

April 6, 2010 update: With the exception of that first Saturday night Ralph has slept in his bed. Yesterday the crib was taken out of his room and put in Henry's room. Unfortunately, Ralph wasn't quite on board with the idea of moving the crib and had quite a meltdown when he saw "his" crib in Henry's room.

Henry's Baptism

Henry was baptized last Saturday evening at the church Mike & I were married. We have not been back since Ralph's baptism, mostly because their service is at 7 pm and bedtime at our house is around 7:30 for the young'uns. I was a bit worried since Henry gets really unhappy in the evening for a while until he can fall asleep. Both boys did great. Henry had a big grin when the water was poured over his head and maintained his composure through the baptism. He did get hungry and told everyone so. Once that was under control we were able to return to the sanctuary for the end of the service.

Ralph and Henry fell asleep on the way home and were put right to bed when we got home. Ralph stayed asleep until 8 am . . .Henry was another story.

Ralph: Celebrating 2 Years!!

Really? Two years? Ralph had a small party in celebration of the big event. Singing Happy Birthday to him took me back two years ago thinking about his Birth Day. All in all, Ralph is a pretty good little boy. He continues to be a good night sleeper (naps are another story), he is a good helper (likes to help vacuum, unload the dishwasher, 'clean' the floor, etc), likes to learn and is quick to pick up most simple concepts and instruction. We wish he would eat a little better and independently (if we let him feed himself he'd be done is 3-4 bites). Tantrums so far are short lived.

Soon we will be focusing on a few milestones including moving to a bed (or mattress sitting on the floor) and potty training. Ralph has taken one nap on the mattress so far but the time is getting near to make the transition. I'm on a quest to find Thomas the Train sheets and hope Ralph will be "all aboard" with sleeping with Thomas. Ralph moved to the Toddler 2 room last week at daycare and they do a little more with potty training. We have not tried much since Henry has been born. He used to announce when he had a dirty diaper but not now. I know Ralph will be the one that decides when he wants to use the potty, similar to how he walked when he was ready - and not amount of encouragement would get him to do it sooner.

Ralph's vocabulary is ever expanding. He also gets fixated on a phrase and keeps repeating it. On the way to daycare he starts saying "Karla room " before we leave the driveway and "Get Daddy broom" all the way home at the end of the day. He will keep repeating a word until you guess the one he is trying to say - and usually tries to enunciate it better if you don't 'get it' after 3-4 guesses. He may not be close to knowing the ABC song but can pick out letters of the alphabet when asked.

This posting ends the monthly updates on Ralph. Entries will be posted to celebrate milestones or share Ralph stories or just because. You certainly won't miss out on the antics of Ralph.

Henry: Celebrating 3 months!

Henry gave us a really great birthday gift today and slept from about 8:30 last night to 6:00 this morning! Who knows if it could have been longer - he had scooted himself to the end of the crib and was almost laying parallel to the bottom edge and woke up because he had no where else to scoot. His sleeping is still unpredictable but he seems to be sleeping all night almost 50% of the time - luckily we get up super early other wise that percentage would be lower. His bedtime seems to be around 8-8:30 right now.

Henry started daycare February 15. The first two nights after starting daycare were the best two nights of sleeping up to that point. Many times when I pick him up he is smiling at whoever is talking to him. He just seems to be a real happy baby.

He is starting to roll to his side when on the floor. He is a strong kicker in the bouncy seat and can make it bounce by himself.

Looking back over the past three months, it seems like the longest, quickest three months. The sleepless nights, the spit-up episodes, the fussiness & gas episodes already seem so long ago but yet it really wasn't. The weeks are going by even quicker now with my return to work and Henry going to daycare.