Car Bed, One Week Later - Posted by Chris

Several individuals have inquired as to how Christopher is doing in his new bed; the answer is 'Surprisingly good!'

Despite all of the horror stories and the Super Nanny shows about kids who won't stay in bed, Christopher has exceeded our expectations. The first two days, Christopher took no nap and bedtime on the first night was a challenge but the second night he went to bed with minimal protest. Tonight was really the only other night that we have had difficulties getting Christopher to stay in bed and we really didn't have that much trouble.

I'm still unwilling to declare victory (call me superstitious) but each night that Christopher sleeps in his car bed I get a little more confident that we've successfully completed the transition.

Car Bed - Posted by Chris

Well, we've made the leap from crib to toddler bed. The first day has been, well let's say, not perfect.

You might ask why we are making this change now, since we really weren't having any problems with Christopher sleeping in his crib. We had considered borrowing a crib from Lisa's parents, however when Ian arrives Lisa will most likely have another C-section and after his birth she will not be able to lift Christopher into and out of his crib. Moving him into his car bed was our only option (short of hiring a nanny). Starting now, 3 months before Ian's birth, seems like the best time.

Christopher could not find any reason to take a nap in this new bed today, despite the fact that he was quite excited about moving his Little Tikes car bed into his room. We tried without success for over an hour but the longest he stayed in bed was about 10 minutes. Nap time ended with Christopher running around the upstairs free from the crib walls that used to hold him.

Bedtime brought on even more challenges as a very tired Christopher cried at the top of the stairs (stair gate in place) and called for 'Mama'. After an unsuccessful attempt by me to get him to stay in bed (usually I'm pretty successful at getting him to lay down and fall asleep), Lisa ended up sitting in the glider as Christopher drifted off in his bed. Christopher has been asleep for about 30 minutes. Lisa and I are holding our collective breath and hoping for the best.

Fo Found - Posted by Chris

This just in, after an "extensive" search of two locations, Scoop was found behind Nanny's computer desk. We are still uncertain as to how he got there (wink wink) however initial reports indicate that a little boy may have been involved in his disappearance. Christopher's reaction was lukewarm at best however a reunion is set for this Friday.

Stay tuned for more breaking news.

SU-uh-da - Posted by Chris

Listening to your child learn to speak has to be one of the greatest thrills of parenthood. It ranks right up there with watching him first learn to walk. Words can not describe the joy in discovering that your toddler can (almost) communicate with the world.

Christopher’s speech is growing in leaps and bounds. One big improvement is that he is now trying to repeat words even if he’s unsure of how to pronounce them. Until recently, he only had a few words and wouldn’t try anything new.

While Christopher is learning to speak, Lisa and I are learning how to understand what he is saying. If you are a parent or even if you’ve watched small children communicate with their parents, you’ll understand that there is a language that is unique between parent and child. I used to be amazed at how my sister would instantly understand what my niece or nephew was saying while their words were foreign to me. Now I understand.

Tonight while reading bedtime stories, I asked Christopher what book he wanted me to read. He replied, “SU-uh-da.” I was a bit confused at first, but with Lisa’s help we discovered that he was saying “Super Grover” (Grover’s superhero personality on Sesame Street). We don’t have any books about Super Grover though we do have some with regular Grover. As I read the Sesame Street book, Christopher pointed out every time he found “Su-uh-da” on the page. He was happy because he was able to tell us what he wanted and we were happy because our little boy is learning to talk.

As Lisa laid him in his crib, Christopher rolled to his side and repeated “SU-uh-da, SU-uh-da” to himself over and over while she descended the stairs.

Lost Fo - Posted by Chris

Today Christopher spent the day at Nanny and Papa's house as he does every day that both Mom and Dad have to work. He took along his "Bob Guys" which travel with him almost every trip. "Bob Guys" are die-cast versions of the Bob the Builder machines. Christopher absolutely loves these little vehicles.

When it came time to go home, we discovered that two Bob Guys were missing; Scoop and Scrambler. Nanny, Papa, Mama and Daddy all searched the house but with no luck, the Guys were lost. We decided we would have to go home and hope for the best.

On the trip home, Christopher would say, "Fo" (his word for Scoop) every few minutes. Lisa explained to him that we couldn't find Scoop but Nanny and Papa would look for him tomorrow. Christopher never cried but for most of the trip home he asked for "Fo" and from the tone of his voice we could tell that he was concerned.

We are pretty confident that Fo, I mean Scoop, will turn up and if he doesn't we can always buy a new one. Meanwhile Christopher is asleep probably dreaming about playing with his Bob Guys especially Fo.