Leah loves her big girl bed!

We'll see if it lasts - it's certainly possible that the excitement and thus good behavior is temporary. Last night Leah slept 12 hours straight - 7:20 p.m. to about 7:25 a.m. - without a peep. And this morning she fussed for us to come get her just like she had been doing in her crib. When Shafi went in she was just sitting up in bed waiting for us.

She told us she slept well and liked sleeping in the big girl bed. And at naptime she asked, "Take a nap in the big girl bed?" I told her yes and she willingly had her diaper changed, put her head on my shoulder while I sang Twinkle Twinkle, and let me put her down in the bed with her head on the pillow. She picked up the dolly and puppy and I pulled the sheet and comforter up around her. It's been 45 minutes and I haven't heard a peep yet!

It was funny to see how she situated herself in the bed during the night. I checked on her around 9 p.m. and she was sleeping sideways. She had her head on the lower edge of the pillow and was facing up towards the headboard. She had one arm out straight on top of the pillow with her hand up towards the headboard, and her legs were bent up against the pillow with her feet against the bed rail - like she was hugging the pillow. The puppy was in front of her and dolly behind her. It was very cute. But unfortunately she did have a diaper leak overnight - just pee, which meant washing the top and bottom sheets, the mattress pad, and because of the way she was sleeping, also the pillow case and cover. Oh well. The single load of laundry wasn't such a big deal, but making the bed was certainly a bigger hassle than changing a crib sheet. No doubt I will have more such loads of laundry to do - she's been having 1 or 2 diaper leaks per week. But it's a small price to pay for a successful transition to the big bed.

Leah is in a big girl bed!

We have been gearing up for this momentous occasion for weeks. As per my last post, almost 4 weeks ago, I showed Leah the bed and bedding online before I bought it. She was very excited and for several days afterward she asked to see more pictures of it - "More becky bed pictures?" Since then we have been talking about the bed as her 2nd birthday present. Last week we started putting her baby doll down at naptime in the big girl bed. Leah holds the doll - aka "Baby" - with the doll's head on her shoulder, much like we hold Leah when putting her to bed, and sings either Twinkle Twinkle or Rock a Bye Baby - all this with no prompting. Obviously in Leah's world this is how bedtime works. Once she has put Baby down to sleep in the big girl bed, we put Leah down to sleep in the crib - also with a round of Twinkle Twinkle, but this one sung by Shafi or me.

I started asking Leah a few days ago if she wants to start sleeping in the big girl bed on Friday. She said yes. Every day we talked about, "Today is Tuesday and tomorrow is Wednesday and then Thursday and then it'll be Friday. Friday night you get to start sleeping in the big girl bed." And so on. Today I started asking her if she's ready - about half a dozen times I asked her if she wants to sleep in the big girl bed tonight. She always gave me an enthusiastic yes.

Shafi and I had decided that it would be a bit much to actually start it on her birthday, since her birthday party is from 4:30 to 6 p.m. and my parents will be visiting - could be an awful lot of commotion keeping her from transitioning smoothly. And we thought it would be best to start it on a Friday so that we have the weekend to adjust - and fit in naps if we have rough nights.

So tonight after getting her washed up for bed, while Shafi put her into her pajamas, I sang Rock a Bye Baby to Baby Boy (her boy baby doll - a gift from GG to help Leah practice helping with her little brother - and no this is not an anatomically correct doll - he's just wearing blue). I put Baby Boy down in the crib and put Leah's crib blanket on him. Then Leah put her head down on Shafi's shoulder and gave me a goodnight kiss. He sang Rock a Bye Baby and Twinkle Twinkle and put her down in the bed. We had her puppy and dolly ready and waiting for her - the two items she has been sleeping with in the crib. When he finished singing Leah actually said, "In the bed" - and when he put her down she put her head on the pillow and let him pull the sheet and comforter up around her.

That was at about 7:20 p.m. It's now 8:30 p.m. and we haven't heard a peep. So we're crossing our fingers that the sound of silence continues!

Leah loves babies - hopefully that will continue when we have one in the apartment. Here are some recent pics of Leah showing her love.

Playing with Asher's little brother Lio:
Holding Tyler's little brother Ethan:
Holding Malia's little sister Kaiemi:
And here's Leah testing out the new bed a few days ago:
Walking around to get the full picture:
And pretending to nap - after the rails went up:

Redecorating

Not sure if this is my nesting instinct kicking in already or just excitement about buying things for the baby, but I've been playing with different layouts for the kids' room. I think I've got it figured out. And tonight I ordered a bed for Leah - a big girl bed, that is. I chose one with drawers underneath and a coordinating storage headboard. I also got her bedding for it. The bed and bedding are going to be her 2nd birthday present. I showed her pictures this morning and she was very excited to have "beckys" on her new big girl bed. And while I was shopping (online shopping that is), I picked out bedding for the baby as well. I wanted to go with a jungle/animal theme and I found a set that is the same brand as Leah's crib bedding (CoCaLo), which has held up really well, that I really like. It's nice bold colors with monkeys, lions, elephants and giraffes.

The room will definitely be a mish-mash of the 2 decors - pink and purple butterflies and flowers AND bold primary color jungle animals. We'll leave the current Leah decor as is - her name above the changing table / dresser, the butterflies and such above the air unit. And above the crib we'll add decor for the baby - maybe we'll put his name up, maybe some sort of pictures or cut outs or something of the sort with the bold colored animals that are in the bedding. And I'll have to figure out something neutral for the remaining wall that will be above Leah's bed - maybe we'll stick with some of the current framed prints that are in the room. I think if we get a bright whimsical type of rug we can really pull the room together.

The future layout:
Leah's new big girl bedding:
Baby boy's crib bedding set - "Jungle Jingle":
Leah's new bed and coordinating storage headboard: