Growing Up

My little boys are not so little anymore. Even Jaden would agree. When he hears me refer to him as a "little boy", he points to himself and says "BIG" in his deepest voice. As all you mothers out there know, it's bittersweet watching your kids grow and learn. Each step of the way is precious and special in its own way, but even as I brag about their accomplishments, I miss their vanishing "baby-ness".

So, what have they done lately, you ask? Well, first of all, Jaden has graduated to a big bed. Since Riley joined our family in July, he's been sleeping in a pack-n-play in our bedroom. Jaden's got a room, and Peter's got a room for his office. Those are all the rooms we have in this house, so our goal all along has been for the boys to share a room. Well, in order for Riley to sleep in their room, he needed the crib, which meant Jaden needed to move into the full bed that has previously served as our guest bed.

We talked it up for a while, did some minor baby-proofing in preparation for Jaden's new-found free access to his room, and then made the switch. Jaden was very excited and kept asking about the "big bed". We installed the bed rails and included a few of Jaden's favorite fuzzy friends.



Jaden climbed right in.


We tucked him under the covers and turned out the light.


I snuck back into the room a couple hours later to check on him, and this is what I found.


After about a week of sleeping in his big bed, he still rolls around a little bit, but he's getting better and better!

You might think moving my first baby out of the crib would be all the transition that I could take for a while, but it was not to be. Riley outgrew his car seat carrier and graduated to a regular car seat. With a jacket on, I could barely stuff him into the carrier and get the staps buckled. Once I did, I could barely lift him, much less carry him great distances. I stalled as long as I could, hoping that his sitting skills would improve enough that he wouldn't need to be in the carrier at the grocery store or in restaurants. At a mere five and a half months old, he was ready. We bought a new car seat for Jaden and moved Riley into Jaden's old seat. He looks much more comfortable here!!

Riley's inagural ride was out to eat, so when we got to the restaurant, we tried him out in a high chair. He was a true champ, acting as though he'd been sitting up on his own for weeks.

My babies are growing up. Peter said that Jaden moving out of his crib meant that he has shed his last vestiges of baby-hood, but I countered that at least he's still in diapers. . .for now. We'll be tackling that little milestone next :)