Farewell, Crib Railing. It's been a nice 20 months!

Despite my best intentions to keep Ian in the crib as long as possible, he clearly had other plans.  About a month ago, he started climbing out of the crib, but the episodes were sporadic and he would go to sleep with one or two returns to bed.  However, he quickly discovered what great fun it was to scale the crib rail and extend his playtime in his room. 

Unlike his big sister, he likes to be extra-stealthy in his nocturnal adventures and not alert anybody to the fact that he's breaking curfew on playtime.  Molly has had her own fair share of bedtime problems, but when Molly's out of her bed, everyone in the house will know about it.  She likes to lay on the floor in front of her door and wail, begging for any number of silly requests: more water, straightened covers, help getting back in bed, removing a toy from her room that "belongs in the lilliloon" (livingroom), fixing the closet door that's ajar, and on and on and on. 

Ian, on the other hand, is the James Bond of bedtime shenanigans.  He manages to get himself in all sorts of trouble without making a single noise.  Just a few recent examples: taking apart his entire humidifier (no water in it, thank goodness), removing all the blankets from his bed and replacing them with every toy from the toyshelf, riding the gliding rocking chair like a Kennywood ride, putting all the pillows from the guest bed into his crib, climbing on top of the bookshelf to sit and play (the bookshelf has since been relocated), removing Eric's 15 lb. chainmail shirt from the table in order to pull down the lamp (which was being held in place by the chainmail shirt).  It amazes me how much of this he accomplishes (#1) without alerting parents to his shenanigans, and (#2) IN THE DARK!

I've started leaving his door ajar during naptime to make sure he doesn't get himself into too much trouble.  Today, I could hear him rustling around in the toyshelf and then heard a desperate cry.  Running in, this is what I found:

 That's one very stuck little boy!  He managed to get his entire torso in the toyshelf and one leg wrapped around the bottom rung.  So what did I do?  What any good mother would: Told him to relax for just a few seconds while I grabbed the camera :-) 

And what was all of this for?  A rubber ducky that had fallen behind the shelf.  I guess he just needed to rescue that poor ducky.  I don't think James Bond finds himself in too many situations like this one, but hey, you gotta start somewhere.

When all is said and done, he DOES eventually fall asleep, and when he does he is just irresistibly adorable!  How could anyone be frustrated by this little face?  I can live with shenanigans.

 

What are you thankful for?

I am very excited to be heading into the holiday season this year because it's the first year that I feel Molly really grasps what's going on.  She has become so verbal in the last year and has quickly transitioned from parroting phrases she hears daily to sharing her own original thoughts.  I love to hear what's going on inside her precious little curly head!  Bedtime is my favorite time to just sit and chat because all the distractions of the day are gone and it's just me and her in the soft glow of her nightlight reflecting on the day.

Last night during our bedtime prayers I spent a lot of time thanking our Heavenly Father for the blessings of a Daddy that loves and cares for our family and for two amazing children that bring me joy everyday.  Afterward, I explained to Molly that the next day was Thanksgiving, a day when we take time to thank God for all the ways He has blessed us.  I asked her what she was thankful for and her response was one that brought both laughter and tears:

"I'm thankful for Ian.  I am happy in my heart.

Do you see it's happy in my heart? [pointing to chest]

Ask Dr. Vines! [our doctor]  He can see it's happy in my heart 

with his stethoscope."

[Tears in eyes] "Yes, Molly.  I see that your heart is happy. 

Mommy's heart is happy too.  I'm thankful for Ian too and for you.

I love you!"