Story Time

For the most part, it has been my job to put Teagan to bed. Long ago, I would sit with Teagan and read her a story. I developed a favorite. One that if given the choice, I would read every night. One that I thought was cute, quick and nice to read. It is not Goodnight Moon. Instead, I enjoy The Going to Bed Book.

It is a Boynton book and is enjoyable for me. I have read it so many times, I was able to recite the story over the phone when I was in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl. I knew the story so well, I could say it from memory. Something that apparently impressed Kelly. She thought it was super cute.

As cute as it may be, what is better is sitting with Teagan to read the book and hearing her recite the story while I read it to her. She keeps up with me while I read it...

"The sun has set not long ago. Now everybody goes below. To take a bath in one big tub, with soap all over scrub, scrub, scrub. They hang their towels on the wall. And find pajamas big and small. With some on top and some beneath, they brush and brush and brush their teeth. And when the moon is on the rise, they all go up, to EXERCISE. And down once more but not so fast, they're on their way to bed at last. The day is done, they say good night, and somebody turns off the light. The moon is high, the sea is deep, they rock and rock and rock to sleep."

As you may guess, EXERCISE is Teagan's favorite part to say. She too has memorized parts of the book and is quite happy reading along with Daddy. I will enjoy every moment of it, even when she is finally reading me books before bed.

Patrick

Moving on Up!

The time has come!!

It is that special time in a toddler's life. One of achievement, success, and perhaps, just a bit of fear and frustration. It is time to move to the BIG KID BED!!!!!

Teagan has been doing a wonderful job of climbing out of her bed and pack-n-play. She has also become quite good at climbing on things. While this may not be preferred by most, it has been a bit heartwarming knowing that her motor skills are getting better and she is developing such good control of her body. It has been full of nerves watching her do it, but none the less, she was able to do it without falling or getting hurt. We even got a few laughs as we watched her, perched on the edge of her pack-n-play, reconsider jumping out. She instead would get back in the pack-n-play and throw her stuffed animals out, then proceed to climb out. She is obviously smart enough to know that once she gets out she cannot get back in.

All things considered, we knew it was time to move on. It was time to say good-bye to the crib and hello to a big girl bed. At that moment, the moment it was time to change, we found some pretty cute bedding at Target, brought it home and tore apart the crib. Our neighbor came over to help me out, and just like that, we moved on.

Teagan loved her new bed. She immediately climbed in, and sat on her bed with a giant smile on her face. It was love at first sight... until it was time for bed. We got her into her pj's and set out to lay her down like normal. She didn't want anything to do with the bed. It was new, different, and apparently a bit scary. She did not want us to leave the room. She asked for us to come back in, and she sounded as though she was scared. Her little voice quivered and you could not help but feel just a bit bad. I thought to myself, did we do it too soon? Will we end up having to bring the crib back in?

Kelly stayed in the room with her. Kelly rocked on the glider until Teagan fell asleep. It took almost an hour to put her down, but she was finally asleep. The first night went by without incident. Kelly and I woke up and went into Teagan's room. Once she woke up, we were full of praise and positive energy. Our little girl had done such a great job staying in her big girl bed.

The first week continued on, and we found new issues. While it was getting easier to put her down, we found ourselves running to her room a couple of times. The run was prompted by a loud boom. The type of boom that could only mean one thing. Did she just fall out of bed??? The answer was yes she did. Kelly got to her first, and picked a sleeping child up from the floor. It was like Teagan didn't know what happened. It was easy to get her back to sleep, but now we had to figure out how to prevent the fall. After the second incident, the one where Teagan told us "I fell out of bed" we tried putting in a speed bump. We placed a body pillow across the bottom of her bed. One of two things is happening. Either the speed bump is working, or Teagan is getting much more used to her new bed. She has not fallen out of her bed. Instead, we find scenes like this.

Sweet Dreams Little Girl!

Patrick

She's growing up too fast!!

Almost time for a big girl bed? In Teagans words Yeeeeeeep! It's been a while now since we first found out she can climb out of a pack and play. Actually catching her doing it on our video monitor the first time was hilarious.
Pat and I were in Wisconsin with our friends Mike and Lisa and Teagan was taking a nap. I had previously heard from daycare that she was able to climb out so as she started stirring we left her there to see what she would do..... She stood up with her paci and proceeded to hoist her leg over the edge - when she was half way over she thought better of it and dropped back down into the bed. I was convinced there that she wasn't able to get out and that at any moment she would be calling for us. Instead she picked up each of her three animals, one by one, and proceeded to throw them out of the bed. Once all her friends were out she quickly threw herself over the edge and made her escape. Meeting us with a "hi mommy" "hi daddy" at the door.
Fast forward three weeks to this past weekend. And although she's been getting out of the pack and play she's never attempted to climb out of a crib... that was until Papa and Nana's house. Once again she's awake from a nap but this time I don't notice her awake - the one thing we do notice (or should I say Aunt Karen ran into) was a bed head Teagan walking through the kitchen on her way to find us. Apparently not only did she get out of the crib, she opened the two doors separating the bedroom from the kitchen.

Oh yes... doors! Teagan can now pretty much open any kind of door - guess what went up in our house the other day - knob covers! It's really kind of funny to watch her try to open the door with the knob cover spinning and spinning.... :)

Christmas Continued :Late Edition:

As promised, the story continues.

The second half of our Christmas celebration took place in Kentucky. We went down to celebrate with Kelly's mom and sisters. We loaded up the car and took off early Wednesday morning in hopes of getting down there with plenty of the day left to relax. The trip went by quite quickly. Teagan was well behaved and spent most of her time in the car watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It is her favorite road trip thing to do.

Once we got to grandma's house, it was time to start partying. We spent several days there. Teagan got some quality time in with many family members she does not get to see enough. She spent time with Aunt Nina, Aunt Keri, Uncle Shawn, Bennett, Cooper and grandma. She had a lot of fun with her cousins. We also got more time in with Aunt Karen, Uncle Alex and cousin Aiden too.

Our Christmas celebration was a bit crazy. There are so many kids these days, the wrapping paper was everywhere. Toys littered the living room and the kids had a great time.

The trip home was a sad one as we had to say goodbye to everyone. Getting home and finally sleeping in our own beds was wonderful though. Overall, the entire Christmas celebration was wonderful!

Patrick