I Cry the Day I Take the Crib Down

Three days ago Brooke announced that she needed to sleep in her "big girl bed", not the crib anymore. After she climbed into bed and fell asleep, I cried.

Now, I know that she isn’t a baby anymore, and we’ve had the toddler bed in her room for 3-4 months now, but she wasn’t trying to get out of the crib. All I had to do was put her down at nap or bedtime and she stayed put and fell asleep quickly. It wasn’t a big deal to me that she wasn’t in a bed. I remembered all too well how it went with Luke…

When we moved into our current house, Luke was 24 months old and we needed the crib for 4 month old Brooke. He was in and out of the bed and screaming at the door every time I put him down. He was contained in his room until he learned how to climb over the baby gate (about one month). After that he was in our bed or on our floor all the time. He still visits us every few nights.

I wasn’t looking forward to that with child #2, but what do you say to your 2 ½ year old when she demands to sleep in a big girl bed because she’s not a baby? I mean, she’s got a great vocabulary and she’s been potty trained for 3 months now! What else does she have to do to prove to me that she’s grown up?

So far once she’s asleep she’s stayed in her bed. However, as the days have gone on she has found numerous ways to put off going to sleep. She comes the door and cries “Oh Heather, oh Heather, oh Heather…” or “I need to go potty” or “I need a story” or last night’s new one: “Mommy, you’re my best friend and I just need you…you’re my best friend….” all while shedding a great many tears. I’m trying to stay tough; a threat with being returned to the crib usually stops the fuss and keeps her in her room (“I can’t sleep in the crib!!! I need to sleep in my big girl bed!!!”)

Now it’s time for the crib to be removed from her room and I’m sad. Not just because it takes an extra hour to get her to bed, but because my baby is no longer a baby. She’s a big girl and time will never go backwards…

Do Your Ears Hang Low...

So a few days ago I got this email from my Aunt Barb:

Hi! Heather!!
Just doing a bit of family research. Could you send out a mass e-mail to the Himle clan to see if any of our family has attached earlobes? Zac is feeling a bit alien and would like to know if he's adopted!
Please help!

And the responses came pouring in:

Doug Himle: "I do." Dad "(I think Grandpa does too.)"

Vicki Himle: "well tell Zac to feel better. Dave has attached earlobes also. Who in the world came up with this interesting tidbit? Dave is interested in knowing who has attached earlobes."

Liz Himle Jaquier: "I have attached earlobes."

Sue Himle Clark: "Hey Barbara, Turns out that Brad is the only one in our family with attatched lobes. I like his ears, but this is the first time I've noticed that they were attatched. Better to be attatched than to be like that famous cartoon about the elephant! Love, Sue"

Bree Himle: "Well- he is not adopted because Derick's earlobes are attached, and so are Aubree's if we are counting great-grandchildren too!! -bree"

But, the best was Jeremy Himle's chart:

What's On Your Fridge?

Today as I was cleaning up the kitchen, I looked at the fridge and thought about how much stuff I have stuck on it. It is the family message board, Art Gallery and Wall of Remembrance.

We have Luke’s preschool calendar, Brooke’s latest drawing from Nursery, our magnet collection (we try to pick one up wherever we visit), Luke’s soccer schedule, coupons for free meals at restaurants we may never visit, a job chart and photos of family.

It made me think how I really couldn’t stand a bare fridge. I know Jason hates the clutter, but I just couldn’t bring myself to toss the little bunny picture with the cotton ball tail Brooke did last week at church. She was very proud of it and as soon as we left church she told us it was going on the fridge. She hung it up herself with the star shaped magnet from Texas (the Lone Star State). Eventually I’ll toss the outdated calendars, but until the end of the month, we’ll have a few extra papers hanging around.

So now I’m wondering, what’s on your fridge?

Photos from a wedding

Here we are at a recent wedding.
Getting Luke to smile is getting harder and harder. Brooke, however, has not had any issues with that (goofy faces - that's another story...)