Growing and Grinning
This summer has seen several milestones in little Levi's life, potty training and moving to a big boy bed being the most easily measurable.
Besides this, he has also grown a fair amount, and added too many words into his vocabulary to count. (Early in the summer, I did add up his vocabulary, and got to well over 100 words. He now mimics almost anything, adds new words to regular usage all the time, and has started using two-word sentences semi-regularly. My favourite addition is when he hollers "Whoo-Hoo!" at some fun turn of events.)
The little man is currently, at 9:42 p.m. and nearly two hours past his bedtime, running around as hyper as a puppy just let into the yard. This unusually late bedtime comes hard on the heels of a week-long stint of sleeping long, three-hour naps, and a rather nasty attitude. Apparently, the growth spurt is over and he is all caught up on sleep, now! (Jude got the nastiest souvenir from this trip down The-Joys-of-Toddlerville Lane when Levi threw a rather sizeable rock at the back of his skull a couple of days ago--in retribution for Jude enforcing the household rule "Don't Play In the Van". After being slathered in essential oils and a couple of day's rest, Jude remarked today that the bump is pretty much gone, and it doesn't hurt as much any more, thankfully. Yay! for oils!)
If only we could bottle that energy, right? Mom and Dad could really use some to take in pill form to correspond to his little energy bursts--"all the better to keep up with you, my dear."
Especially mom.
We left for our holidays right after school ended, pretty much, and Levi had been potty training for about two weeks. Some progress had been made, but not much, and he spent nearly the entire vacation in Pull-ups and diapers.
Jason was still on holidays for two weeks after we returned home, and I didn't bother jumping back on the "strict potty training routine" until he went back to work. Once that happened, though, the little man quickly progressed to staying dry ALL the time--even at night. Thankfully so, as he had decided that taking off his diaper first thing in the morning (before anyone even knew he was awake) was a pretty fun thing to do.
Unfortunately, he still adamantly refuses to do a number 2 in the potty, which has been rather trying for me. I don't know what will throw that magic "switch" in his head, but I'm hoping we figure that out soon!
However, what did NOT wait, once we were home from holidays, was a move to the bunk bed. While on our trip, he had been sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor with his brothers. While he was not used to this, he handled it much better than any previous vacation when we tried using a playpen as a bed, and stayed put surprisingly well.
Within three days of being home, I had the crib moved out to the SeaCan (thanks to Jude and his handy screwdriver skills, and my other willing helpers), Levi was in the bottom bunk, Jabin moved to the top bunk, and Noah moved to the top bunk in Jude's room.
Honestly, the one who had the hardest time with that transition was Jude. After sleeping in a room on his own for five years, he did not cope well with the idea of no longer being the only one in the house to occupy a solo room, and with the brother he gets along with the least. However, the boys all seem to be pretty well-adjusted, now, especially once Jason put a couple of two-by-fours on Levi's bunk to prevent him from falling out of bed. (Last week, while Jude was at camp, Jabin did ask to sleep in Noah's room a couple of nights. "I miss sleeping with Noah," he said. Other than that, he hasn't been too upset.)
The biggest change with the move in beds has been Levi's sleeping schedule, aided and abetted by our twenty-plus-hour-long summer days that never even get all the way dark for a couple of weeks in June and July. When he was in the crib and woke up in the night, or quite early, he couldn't just get up and start playing or wander sleepily into walls, whining. He would just calm himself right where he was and go back to sleep again. Now, he sometimes wakes up in the night and wanders down the hallway, hollering in confusion (usually due to a bad dream, I think). Or, he is getting up with the rooster, full of vim and vigour. (Thus the need for longish naps in the afternoon, still.) And mom and dad have found "sleeping in" to be something that we really miss from other summers.
Especially mom.
Thankfully, with the other boys home, mom hasn't been the only one trying to occupy him.
And sometimes, mom even gets to sleep in a little, or have a nap.
I think everyone is happier when I've had enough sleep, and they know it.
Especially mom. :-)
