New Beds!

So we finally decided it was time to say goodbye to cribs and hello to big girl and big boy beds.  Chris and I had been debating back and forth on when to make the transition for awhile as Hannah and Owen still loved sleeping in the cribs, but were looking increasingly too big for them with each passing day.  Right before school ended in June we headed out Short Pump to look for a bed for Owen as we already had a bed, dresser, and chest of drawers (my furniture from when I was a little girl).  We found a bed at Pottery Barn Kids that we thought would blend in and that we liked.  They were having a big sale and we made the decision in minutes.  Whew, we were proud of our accomplishment...little did we know that buying the bed was going to be the easiest part.  While waiting for the bed to come in and preparing to pick up all the other pieces of furniture we talked a lot about Hannah and Owen's new beds and they were super excited when the day arrived.  Mommy had second thoughts the night before the big day and felt somewhat sad at the prospect of not having cribs in the house anymore.  I had dreamed and longed to set up a nursery for so long and the time came too quickly to take it apart, but Hannah and Owen's excitement made me stick firm to our decision and our upcoming beach vacation where pack and plays and portable cribs just wouldn't work anymore did too.

Last pictures of Hannah and Owen in their cribs:

 Hannah still doesn't look too tall for her crib, but she can put her foot up on the rail.  

However, Owen is really too tall to safely stay in his crib although neither one ever tried to climb out.

 Let's try to do some flips for fun:

Our big boy...why must you grow so fast?!

This is what their room looked like from before we brought them home from the hospital:

The disassembly process begins:

We untie the bumpers...wow, did I tie these tight as if two newborns were going to untie them.

 Owen and Daddy take out the screws holding the rails together.

Setting up a new big girl/big boy room:

 This is the way we wash the new sheets for our bed!

Thanks, Nana!

Owen loves to help put things in the washer and dryer and then he helps push the buttons to turn it on.  His favorite part is sitting on top of the washer to watch the water rush in the drum start to spin.

 Hannah and Owen try out their new beds.  They are good for resting and...

 ...reading!

 Mommy and Nana put on the sheets...dump trucks for Owen and owls with flowers for Hannah.

Hannah and Owen's new room:

 Owen is excited and happy about his new bed!

 Hannah is all settled in for her first nap...which didn't happen!

Owen was really good at playing on his bed, but not so good at sleeping.

The rest of the story...

so my gut told me not to even attempt a nap on this day, but then part of me said to be consistent and to put them down for a nap since I expect them to take a nap everyday and so we did and it was horrible!  They jumped right down out of their beds and ran out of the room repeatedly.  They were out of the bed faster than we could get out of the room.  After about 30 minutes we gave up for the day and hoped that bedtime would be better...except it wasn't!  I was so beside myself because Hannah and Owen have always been beautiful sleepers.  They would lay right down and go right to sleep for about 11-12 hours at night and about 1 1/2-2 hours for nap and suddenly they were fleeing their room and had turned into 2 kids we didn't even recognize.  It took 2 hours to get them to sleep the first night which meant they didn't fall asleep until 10:30pm and Chris and I were exhausted.  

When naps on the 2nd day went the same as the first I decided I needed to really think about how to get them back into their normal sleep routine (after a tearful phone call to my mom and discussions about putting the cribs back up).  I jumped on the computer and made a sticker chart with goals to keep them in their beds and for them to sleep in their beds with the goal being a new matchbox/hotwheels car for every 3 stickers earned (they could earn up to 2 a day if they slept at night and stayed in their bed for a nap).  Hannah often did earn 2, but Owen gave up on the idea of two and decided he was okay with one because naptime was just an unattainable goal in his mind).  I don't know if it was that or sheer exhaustion combined with some sleep training techniques that made them magically lay down and go to sleep without assistance the 2nd night.  I went in to praise them starting with 5 minutes and then 10 minutes.  I added 5 minutes on each time until they both had fallen asleep.  They ended up with a much better bedtime and I felt as if I'd accomplished something.  For a week we worked exclusively on sleeping at night and they quickly fell back into the habit of laying right down and falling right to sleep.

On the 2nd or 3rd day Owen collapses on the couch with Chris while watching tv.  I was able to carry him to his bed so at least he woke up and realized he had napped in his bed.

Owen's first nap in his bed, but he hasn't had many repeat performances despite my high hopes.

Now for naptime it is a different story altogether.  Naps are still a work in progress.  After completing the nighttime sticker chart I changed the goals to reflect naptime and decided to separate them into different rooms because they would play the whole time they were supposed to be napping (they wouldn't pull anything out, but would imaginatively play).  This helped and Hannah started napping each day on her old crib mattress on the floor in my room.  Owen still does not nap routinely as he used to, but we have advanced to about 30-40 minutes of sitting/laying quietly on the bed looking at books.  This is something I thought I'd never see as he would jump down out of his bed that first week faster than I could blink.  It was as if he got ramped up and excited for the game that naptime had become.  I have not yet given up on naps for Owen, but am becoming more accepting of the idea of quiet time.  However, I now feel as if I don't get anything done, but as Owen becomes better at quiet time I will again be able to have a little bit of "mommy" time again.  

 Hannah gets the hang of sleeping in her bed at night and napping in Mommy and Daddy's room during the day and she quickly fills her sticker charts earning her lots of new cars and a Fisher Price playground to go with her dollhouse.

 A proud smile as she adds more stickers to her sticker chart.

Overall, I am glad that we made the transition because  they were growing bigger and it had to happen at some point in the near future.  I'm glad I was home and not having to face a day of work after a late bedtime and that I could help get them adjusted to the change.