monkeys and gorillas

"It's like letting the gorillas into their new enclosure!" -christian, after introducing the kids to their new bunk beds














I mentioned a while back that Layne got suckered into helping Christian assemble the bunk beds (and buying us twin mattresses) when he was here last month. We were going to wait until Christmas, worrying that Addy wasn't quite ready to go from crib to twin bed right after his second birthday, but I got over it. The boys have been in their new beds about a month now and have adjusted remarkably, much to my relief. Here are some brief highlights:

*The first night Addy didn't make it three hours before he fell out of his bed.

*In the beginning, James went to the bathroom no less than five times a night, just so he could go up and down the ladder.

*They are actually excited to go to bed now.

*Our Dad is "NOT ALLOWED" to sleep on the top bunk (according to James in his very best I'm-the-boss-of-you-voice).

*Addy proved me right that he would be out of bed constantly, but only for about two nights. He's now really good at staying put (those of you with perpetual escape artists, don't ask me why--I cannot take credit).

*Every day I try not to notice the the foot of the top bunk is on backwards. I love my ever-exhausted husband too much to make him do it over. (But maybe my dad will help me when he's here next week. It really is driving me crazy.)



One thing that made this change possible was the sale of the toddler bed, crib, and changing table/dresser on Craigslist (I heart craigslist!). They all sold in less than 24 hours for our full asking price. But it was kind of weird to see them go. (P.S. The ONLY reason I consented to sell the crib was that Cree said I could buy a new one when we had another baby. Yes, it will be a long time until we can afford to buy another crib, and yes that does mean it will be a long time before we have another baby. I know--makes me sad, too.)


I LOVE these bunk beds, and I got them brand new for a song back in early summer--$300 for the whole set. I couldn't pass up that bargain. They even separate into two twin beds if you want. We found a cute red dresser at Ikea to go with them. Now I just need to get the courage to choose a shade of tan for their walls. Just don't tell James--he's grown incredibly fond of the fluorescent green walls and stenciled rocket ships and has threatened to hate me if I change it. Too bad I know that's an idle threat (see the last quote of this post).

I have to admit the "mama" in me was a little sad to see Addy make this move so easily. My baby is growing up, and I can't pretend I'm not grieving that. He still wants me to rock him occasionally before bed, and he requests the "Sweet Dreams" song every night before I leave the room. But he's more independent, which makes my job easier in lots of ways. He's catching up with James so quickly, which means they actually play together, and he can hold his own when being tortured. They played Legos today for about an hour--building towers and castles then knocking them down together. He's starting to talk back (like when I told him he had to pick up the peas he knocked off his tray tonight and he looked right at me and said, "No," then laughed an evil laugh and ran away). He doesn't even care when we leave him in nursery at church anymore. Nope--he's a big boy now. Wait, make that a gorilla.