Never Say NEVER!!

Big Boy Bed For Big Boy Pierce!!

Yeah, you read that right, Pierce is outta the crib, watch out!!!  And the timing makes me laugh because just days earlier at his annual evaluation, I was talking with his occupational/physical therapist, Chrissy (who we ADORE & should your child need some help fine tuning their motor skills PLEASE let me give you her number) and she was asking if we had any plans to move him to a toddler bed or start potty training.  And in my overly confident and somewhat sarcastic way (who ME sarcastic, I know shocker!) said something along the lines of 'Pierce will be in his crib until he's 5! And wearing diapers till they run out of his size' - ha ha ha open mouth insert foot!  SO fingers crossed the potty training comes quickly & easily too - especially with Dax's arrival mere weeks away!!

Sometimes You Can't Deny Your Kids

So really feeling way more confident then I should have that we were at least 6+ months away from the big move it was the furthest thing from my mind last night when Dave & I took the boys upstairs for bedtime.  Kaiden & Pierce were doing their pretty typical run around the room & spend every last ounce of precious energy before going to bed, they were pretty wild - playing the tackle game, and lots of squealing, not to mention Dave was in on the 'boom down tackle' action so I suggested that we move the boys into Pierce's crib for our nighttime prayers, which is a very typical part of our nighttime routine.  And since Kaiden perfected climbing into and out of cribs years ago, he handles his own in & out.  I think I realized that we had left one of Pierce's favorite baby's 'Po' down stairs and went to retrieve it so that after prayers we could turn out the lights and move on with the rest of our routine.  WELL, if I had only known what was in store upon my return. . . . .  SO Kaiden being in a very good, 'I'll help Momma mood' decided to jump out of the crib and come help me.  Pierce watched Kaiden climbing into & out of HIS crib for months, so last night Pierce decided he wanted to try climbing out - THANK GOD Dave was standing right there to catch him seconds before impact!!

See Kaiden has ALWAYS been very agile and extremely cautious when attempting these type things, so even at less than 2 on the rare occasion that he would escape his crib to get a new book from his shelf, he would always pull himself up, swing his legs over and then step down to the mattress, then while holding on firmly step down to the floor.  Yeah, um Pierce's idea of getting out of the crib involved hoisting himself up & leaning forward & head down until gravity took over and sent him sailing towards the floor head down!!  In case I'm missing the mark on describing this, I was TERRIFIED, and I don't usually freak out about too much that the boys do.  After watching Dave catch him millimeters before impact three times, that was it - I marched right off to the basement and dug out the crib tent that Melissa had lent us after her daughter had become an escape artist WAY TOO EARLY for her toddler bed.  So in fear of him breaking his neck or cracking his skull open we pulled out his mattress placed it in the crib tent contraption and replace the whole thing back into the crib.

Smooth Beginnings Do Not Necessarily Mean Smooth Endings

There was much excitement and jubilation in the room immediately after transforming the crib to a circus/mosquito mesh tent.  Kaiden climbed in Pierce got back in & they were giggling & excited, I can still see Pierce's HUGE smile and happy hands while playing in there, all of that changed INSTANTLY when Pierce learned that once Kaiden was out the flap would be zipped up and he was left in this closed in tent all by himself.  IT BROKE MY HEART hearing him cry & plea 'NO zip Momma, NO GO BYE BYE!'  It was awful!!  I have NO qualms letting my kids cry when they are being brats or if they are throwing a temper tantrum - spend your energy pitching a fit, it's NO sweat off my back, but Oh My how I can NOT stand hearing my babies cry if they are hurt or scared!!  I was a WRECK!!  I kept wanting to run back in there, I was now convinced I had completely overreacted and if we had just separated the boys and given him some time to wind down he would not have attempted another swan dive out of the crib.  Dave decided it was best for him to go in there because I was so worked up & Pierce is already a Momma's Boy.  So I waited on pins and needles for him to come back out & he said he had gotten Pierce to calm down & fall asleep, that he left the flap open, which we realize completely contradicts the entire point of the damn thing being there in the first place, but we think that his ten minutes alone in there 'scared him straight!'  Dave said that he kept asking him 'no zip Dada, no zip me in' & Dave spent a few minutes reassuring him that he was leaving it open.  SO, well that was that!!

We probably could have taken the tent out the next morning left it a crib & all would have gone back to how it's been for the last two and half years, but we decided it was worth it to give him a shot at the toddler bed and if that didn't work out after a few days then we would convert back. . . . I was less than thrilled, but now realize that my worries were really for naught!

New Bed = Big Decisions 

Pierce's Mickey Towel Poncho

SO in case you didn't know Pierce is a HUGE Mickey Mouse fan!!  HUGE, see his Birthday cake from earlier this year.  So it was a natural thought that we would head out and pick up a toddler bed set with his pal on it. . . yeah easier said than done!  I mean I am STILL in shock that there are NO real options for a freaking Mickey Mouse Toddler bed set - really!?  NO Mickey!?  NOT even the flipping Disney store - come ON step up your game!!  And do NOT get me started on the fact that Target has not one but TWO different Minnie Mouse toddler spreads - can we say SEXIST!?

OK so vent over.  After I learned that a Mickey spread & sheet set was out of the question, I thought I would fall back on one of the Circo sets from Target.  They are much better quality than the cheesy Toy Story or Cars options found at most stores - those have virtually NO comforter and they use unfortunately cheap & scratchy cotton. . . BUT as luck would have it, Target no longer carries the Toddler sets.  I know right!?  The guys said he thought they had moved to an online exclusive item and I was like, well isn't that convenient!?  AND while I'm still venting about this, you can FORGET purchasing just a toddler bed sheet set - they do NOT exist, at least not in brick & mortar stores!  And the more I thought about it the more I could care less if Pierce had a 'flat sheet' which is essentially the only thing you can't find, cause that boy flips like crazy during the night & almost always wakes up on the other end of the bed from his blanket & he flat out refuses to lay on a pillow unless he is propped up watching a movie - so I cut my losses & gave the reigns over to the man of the day.

Free To Be. . . 

 LOOK how snuggley Mario is

NOW, I have to admit I try to let my boys have pretty free reign to decide what THEY like vs just what I want them to like - think about it, there's a difference.  BUT having said that I have NEVER & have NO INTENTIONS of showing them ANY of the Star Wars movies and I am NOT a fan of Nickelodeon they have WAY too many commercials plus I think their shows are for an older crowd (but we still know who Sponge Bob is!) so I have to say when I decided just to let Pierce pick out a new blanket for his new bed I was a bit nervous what direction he was going to take.  And I went over it with Kaiden that this was NOT about him or what he wanted, that Pierce got to pick what he wanted, this did not stop Kaiden from trying to sell Pierce on the Thomas, Mario Brothers & of course Cars 2 gear!!  He is QUITE the persistent little salesman, but Pierce saw what he wanted & that was a stuffed Perry The Platypus!!

Could YOU have said NO to this!?

This doll, which was almost as big as him, was IT, once he saw it he wanted NOTHING else to do with Thomas or Toy Story, which were sort of the directions I thought he would take, he clung tight to his new Agent P doll & I just went with it.  I picked up one of the giant oversized super soft Agent P throws and we headed to the wall of mix N match linens to retrieve pillow cases & a couple pillows.  I know NOW I could have skipped that step all together, but I figure there will come a time when he decides a pillow may be nice to lay on for longer than 5 minutes, and when that day comes I WILL BE PREPARED!!!  So Kaiden didn't feel completely left out (although like EVERY other shopping trip involves HIM getting something & Pierce getting nothing) I let him make the crucial decision on what color pillow cases we should get for Pierce - Orange to match the bill, Brown to match the hat, Black to tie into the trim around the blanket or Turquoise to match Perry himself. . . yup we left with a GIANT Perry, Perry colored pillow cloths & Agent P blanket!!


Pierce & Agent P - They Make A Good Team

The Big Boy Agent P Bed

Pierce obliging me for a picture while ON his pillow!

My Boys!  Kaiden was VERY excited about Pierce's new bed!

SUCCESS - his first nap in the new bed!!