One Down

One to Go!!!

A child's first year if filled with so many milestones, but as a child gets older they are fewer and farther between. I consider potty training and transitioning from a crib, two huge milestones for a toddler.

A couple of months ago, I thought "The Time Has Come". I was ready (emotionally ready) for this transition, but John wasn't completely there yet so we waited. Since we are all "ready" we removed the front portion (never to be used again) of Kyle's crib on Monday and put up the crib rail. We were anticipating a few nights of Kyle climbing in and out of bed, but he has done awesome. He crawled out of bed only once in the morning when it was time to start his day. We put a gate up in his doorway so he isn't tempted to tour the house in the middle of the night. This has been much easier than I anticipated...just hope I'm not jinxing the situation by saying this. We need to begin thinking about redecorating Kyle's room since his current stars and moon theme is a little too "baby" for him now. This may be a long process because we are debating about switching Kyle to a larger bedroom, which would require painting, ceiling fan installation and other projects unknown at this time.

Now, if the potty training could only be this easy. We have introduced the potty to Kyle, but haven't started the official process. I'm thinking he will be 3 - 3 1/2 when these fun times begin.

Day One - The Great Wolf Lodge

WELCOME TO THE GREAT WOLF LODGE

Our first day at the lodge was a lot of fun. Of course, the main attraction is the tremendous indoor waterpark, so we got settled in our room and then headed to the waterpark. There is so much to do...from a toddler area with many types of sprinklers and also a few slides. We weren't able to go down the slides with Kyle, but we did put him down a couple of times, but he really didn't enjoy it very much! We also rode on the lazy river...we sat in intertubes and floated down the river. I could have stayed there all afternoon because it was so relaxing. The three of us also went on a huge water slide which Kyle enjoyed somewhat. John and I took turns riding the slides by ourself as well. One really cool thing is a giant bucket which dumps 1,000 gallons of water every five minutes. We plan to spend much more time at the waterpark over the next few day as well, but will also venture out and about in the area.

In the following pictures, Kyle is having fun exploring all the fun water activities.

Tonight for dinner we ate at the Camp Critter Bar and Grill. The food was really good and Kyle even had the opportunity to meet Wiley the Wolf. Kyle liked Wiley and even gave him a High 5! He was nice enough to pose for a family picture!

Our room, The KidKamp, has a little room with bunk beds. We thought this may be a good opportunity to introduce the "Big Boy Bed" to Kyle. We brought along a bed rail so he won't fall out of the bed. He did wonderful tonight and fell asleep pretty quick. He was completely exhausted, so we shall see how the transtition from the crib to the bed works at home. We do have his pack n play with us in case our plan doesn't work out, but so far so good!

What's So Funny?

Kyle is keeping it a secret, but I sure wish I was in on the joke. One awesome quality about Kyle is that he is a happy little guy...for the most part! He loves to be goofy and laughs a lot. This is certainly a true statement when Kyle is attempting to go to sleep for a nap or at night. He spends time having so much fun and he just cracks himself up. He really gets on a roll and just can't stop laughing. This afternoon at naptime I called John so he could listen to Kyle since he was really going to town. He naps downstairs in a very dark room and doesn't have anything with him, but somehow he finds something to entertain himself. I think he must get this trait from me because there are times when I start to laugh and can't stop. My husband learned this fact about me the very first time we met and he still married me...amazing! There are even times when I have no clue what I am laughing about. Do you ever get into these moods or am I just an oddball?

Just thought this would be a cute "nugget" of information to share about My Little Munchkin. At least I know that Kyle has a sense of humor and a very vivid imagination.

The Time Has Come

HAPPY FRIDAY!

My Little Munchkin caught me by surprise this morning!

As I was getting ready this morning, Kyle was in the process of waking up. He decided to make a liar out of me since my post a couple of days ago about wanting to sleep in on school days! LOL. He does well having alone time after waking up...he plays, laughs, and entertains himself quite well. After showering and blow drying my hair he would have had enough and it would be time to rescue him from his crib.

Not this morning...I'm in the process of drying my hair and turn to see Kyle running to greet me. I was shocked...Yes, he climbed out of his crib! He had this sense of great accomplishment and such a big smile on his face. I was caught off guard, but honestly I can't believe it took him this long to figure out how to crawl out of his crib. As much as he likes to climb, I was expecting this much sooner! I so wish I could have been a fly on the wall to catch the action on video or at least have gotten a picture or two.

Well, our next step??? That is yet to be determined. I always said once he climbs out of the crib I was going to try a crib tent. Well, at this stage of the game, he probably is too big for the tent and would figure out in a heartbeat how to take it apart. Kyle is a great problem solver, once he does something once or twice he has it mastered and will repeat it continuously. I assume if this keeps happening a "big boy bed" will be in the near future.

On one hand this is an exciting "milestone", but on the flip side it may be a bit stressful. We will see how he does tonight at bedtime. It should be an interesting weekend around our house.

If anyone has any helpful hints or words of advice please let me know! I will keep everyone posted on how things progress.

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!

UPDATE: 8:20P.M. Kyle climbed out of his crib again. We heard a loud thud and as we were heading upstairs we heard the door to his room opening. My main fear is that he will hurt himself, so we put some pillows on the floor around his crib. I'm afraid this will make it easier for him to get out, but for the time being it gives me a little bit of comfort. I will be researching crib rails on the internet tonight. If we think we may need to special order rails for his crib we will be headed to Treasure Rooms in the morning. (Treasure Rooms is where we purchased his crib.) Wish us luck. Hopefully I won't be back with another update this evening. I'm mainly updating just to keep a record for the future. Good night.

Snug As A Bug

I thought these were the cutest pictures of My Little Munchkin. He looks so darn adorable and comfortable all snuggled with his Thomas pillow and blanket. Unfortunately, he doesn't stay like this throughout the night. He doesn't really sleep with any pillows, blankets, etc., but they are there in case he wants them. He must not take after me because I'm a high maintenance sleeper. There's still plenty of time for him to change his mind in this department. At this stage of the game, I should just be thankful he still takes a nap and sleeps through the night.

Kyle may not be a high maintenance sleeper, but he certainly makes up for it in other areas...as you can tell from previous posts. These are all the special things that make Kyle, My Little Munchkin.

While He Was Sleeping

Well, technically, Kyle should have been sleeping, but instead he was having a good 'ole time. I went to take a peek to find out what was going on and this is what I find!! LOL. I couldn't resist getting a picture.

This is one of Kyle's new found favorites....taking off any clothes with zippers. The pajamas he "had" on zipped up the front so I should have known this would eventually happen. Well, he is put back together and all is quiet in his room.