Big kid beds...

This has been a month of projects in our household. Rob has been busy sanding and restaining Makena's crib for Evan's room... a project that ideally would have been done before Evan's head and feet touched the ends of his bassinet... but, ahem, enough said. As we near the end of the project and prepare to move Evan into his own room, I am a bit sad. I mean, I know it's good... a healthy, growing baby... but can't he just stay small for a little while longer... please?? His 4 month appointment was last week... 26 inches, 14.75 lbs. WHAT?? Evan has doubled his weight! WOW! He's laughing at just about everything, and is so happy! Aside from the somewhat spuratic sleep pattern, I couldn't be luckier with this one. Evan is such a happy, content guy!

Averie, our little patriot (above watching the National Anthem), has also made a big move into her big girl bed! We took the front of her crib off yesterday... so she can now climb in and out on her own accord... Oh. My. Goodness. After I put her to bed, I came out to the kitchen and told Rob that I know what to do when she comes out... I learned it on Supernanny... all that cramming reruns made no difference though, she didn't even come out once. She woke up around 12:30 and I ended up sleeping in there with her for a couple of hours... when she said, "mama, climb up"... I did, in part to comfort her... in part, for me. She's keeping us on our toes, as always, with her sharp wit and her daddy's sense of humor (yikes!). We've been outside EVERYDAY, enjoying the sunshine. Averie has been getting really good at riding her bike, kicking the soccer ball, and bossing around who ever happens to be pulling her in the wagon. It is so cute to see her making friends and wanting to play with them...

Flashback to one of my very first blog postings here, and the lesson learned. When your child is quiet... they are up to no good. Case and point, do-it-yourself mani-pedis. Oh, how it would have been hilarious if we had hidden cameras in our house. During Averie's nap last Thursday I painted my toenails, she woke up before I'd put away the assortment of polishes ranging in colors from coral to seafoam. Upon seeing the treasure chest of shiny little bottles she asked, "mama, paint awee's toes too?" Well, I see this as one of the small pleasures of being a mom of a little girl, tiny painted toes are SO cute, so I said sure. She picked a sparkly coraly color and we got to work. She was sitting very still, and when I finished with her toes she asked if I would do her fingers... of course. When we were done, and she was sitting still watching Curious George letting her nails dry (or so I thought), I started folding the (endless) pile of laundry on my couch. I couldn't have turned my head for too long... laundry isn't that interesting... when I noticed she was kind of hunched over... hummmmm. "Averie, whatcha' doin?" "Painting toes, mama." What? No. That's kind of impossible, she can't unscrew one of those bottles... I can't even do it 1/2 the time... YES SHE CAN. I kind of peeked around her little chair, and there she was, putting a 2nd coat of pearly light pink on her two big toes... How'd she do that??? So, now comes the tricky part. She doesn't want to let go of the OPEN bottle of nail polish. Do I try to negotiate with a two year old and hope she sees reason and hand's it over without spilling, or do I pry her tiny little fingers from the bottle and hope that in the process we both don't pour the entire content on the carpet?? Ooh- option 2, swift and painless... she barely knew that I got it away from her before she threw the mini-tantrum on the floor there. And then came the talk about how only mommys can paint toes... hopefully that one sank in... hopefully next time she's that quiet I wont wait so long to see what Awee's doin'...

Makena's schoolwork is starting to get tougher. She's been working on multiplication and division... wow. But, she's taking it in stride, practicing every night, usually with only a little protest. She had a slumber party on Friday night and just totally impressed me and Rob. Not only were she and her friend so sweet to a very adoring Averie who wouldn't leave thier sides, but they made some delicious cookies and even went to bed around 10:30! I'm pretty sure that the photographic evidence on Makena's camera will tell a tale of goofy faces and bed jumping... but they had a great time and reminded me and Rob how lucky we are to have such a sweet, sweet girl.

So, my babies are moving into their big beds... changing so fast... painting toes... growing up before my eyes. Before I know it, we'll be working on times tables with them, like we are with Makena... wondering how they got so smart...