New Rooms

We've had a big move lately - Kate has recently moved to her new, big girl room. She has done an amazing job. We approached it with what appears to be the one and only strategy I know - cold turkey. Luckily, it seems to work for her. We've been talking up the new room for quite some time, and we made the decision that as best we could, when the time came we would move her to the new room, and specifically new, big bed for good - naps and nighttime. Brett came up with a back-up plan (thank God for 2 parents :) that if she rejected the big bed she could sleep in her pack & play in her new room, which was great because then she still had a choice but it did not include the crib. The big thing was, we didn't want to buy a new crib for a 2+ year old. Luckily, it really worked well.

Kate has been amazing in her new room. She really loves it. We have been picking out decorations for it for almost 2 months, so I think she really feels ownership of it. Her favorite color is blue, so there is lots of teal everywhere. The furniture was mine, and also my aunt Susie's before that, and I'm so happy with it. Our FANTASTIC painter Graham said, "I'd like to give you a gift and paint your furniture for free." Uh, absolutely Graham, I love gifts, you can definitely paint the furniture for us. He did a great job and I'm really happy with it. (PS - if you need a painter, Graham is amazing and very reasonable- see his website at www.vfpainting.com)

The day before she moved, we threw her a "new room party." She wanted a monkey cake (the same as her birthday), so this time I made it pink and blue. We celebrated with the Pattersons, and they showed her their big beds. It was perfect - I think both the party and the big kid room tours were clutch. The first couple of times she pulled a typical Kate negotiation - "I think maybe my Pooh crib would be better for me for my nap." Nice try, cute girl, but we're going to your new big girl bed. Now she's excited to be in there, which is so lucky for us.

I'm really happy with the way Ellie's room has turned out. It feels totally different to me than when it was Kate's room; just new bedding and some new pictures, but it makes a big difference. I'm excited to be in there with her. Kate seems to get that it is now Ellie's room. Hopefully she's still good with it when Ellie is here. But so far, she is doing great. Lucky for us - what a blessing!