14 days to go!

14 more days to go until baby Luke arrives! We are more than ready to meet him! Everything is still going well with the pregnancy. Now we just have to wait two more weeks and he'll be here!

Last week we pulled the trigger and bought our new Toyota Sienna. We are actually enjoying it a lot. It has a lot of bells and whistles that have been fun to play with. I'm really looking forward to automatic sliding doors on both sides when I'm trying to wrestle two kids into car seats. It's also helped me out in the short term- Will can climb up into the van on his own and I just have to help him climb into the car seat. Not as much work as getting him into the Pilot. The ride is smoother than the Pilot too. I never thought I'd own a minivan but it's a nice looking ride and we're really enjoying it. It just makes life easier!

Apparently, Will has suddenly decided that he is a toddler and should act accordingly. After being pretty agreeable for a few weeks, he's had a recent independent streak that has been a challenge. It seemed to start last Friday. He was just bouncing off the walls. I couldn't keep him from climbing all over the furniture and he was incredibly active. He finally started to look tired so I put him in his crib. He managed to reach through the slats and pull over his toy box. Then he took all of the toys he could reach and pulled them into his crib. When he couldn't reach any more, he started trying to climb out of his crib. I was watching him on the monitor so I knew he was attempting to climb out, but I didn't think he'd be able to make it. I was wrong! After a few attempts he got smart and moved to the corner, stood on a pillow and swung one leg up onto the side rail. Then he was able to pull himself on top of the rails and was set to jump/fall down by the time I got to his room. So I decided our attempt at nap time was over and I got him up. He's coordinated and strong enough to be able to climb up onto the rails but not to get down safely.

So David and I decided that maybe it was time to try the big boy bed. We didn't intend to make the change this close to having a new baby but the crib just didn't appear to be safe for him anymore. That night we did his bedtime routine and took him to the toddler bed instead of his crib. To our surprise, he got out of bed only a couple of times for toys and went right back down. He soon fell asleep and we didn't hear a peep out of him until the next morning. We were so excited it was so easy! But we were in for a surprise the next night!

Saturday was the day we bought the car. It was a long day and Will didn't get a nap except for a few winks in the car. That night, we started the bedtime routine and he went crazy. Screaming and kicking and banging on the door. Until then, he hadn't been able to open our doors (we have knobs that are a little hard to turn- not levers that can be pulled down). But on Saturday, Will figured it out and suddenly came running out of his bedroom when he was supposed to be in bed. So we got out the plastic knob covers so he can't turn the knob and put him back in bed. Then, I heard him yelling "light" on the monitor, meaning he wanted the light on. All of the sudden we heard a loud crash and I could see on the corner of the monitor that he had tipped his new dresser over! We ran back to his room (well- one of us ran and the other waddled) to find that Will had been trying to climb the dresser to reach the light switch. It fell over but Will wasn't caught or hurt by it. He was standing a few feet away looking a little stunned. We were thankful we'd bought the shorter, wider dresser rather than the taller chest of drawers but I guess we were wrong in thinking he'd have a hard time tipping it. Anyway, we'd had enough and we stuck him in his crib and watched him until he fell asleep to make sure he didn't try to climb out.

On Sunday, David anchored the dresser to the wall and we prepared to give the big boy bed another try. It was like Saturday never happened. He stayed in his bed and went right to sleep. The next night, however, he refused to even lie down in his toddler bed and kept putting his pillow, blanket and books into his crib. Then he'd try to climb into his crib to go to sleep. After a fight we let him sleep in his crib that night too, though we had a couple of close calls with him thinking about climbing out.

Yesterday, we decided to just bite the bullet and get rid of the crib. We took the crib down and put his toddler bed where the crib used to be. Will got a new Lightning McQueen blanket to use in his big boy bed, which he thinks is pretty cool. We can't say he didn't put up a fuss, but overall it was successful. He cried at his door for a while and I ended up going back to his room to put him back in bed a few times. He even pulled the old "more water" trick. I got him more water and after that he stayed in bed. Eventually he fell asleep but woke up upset once in the middle of the night. This morning, though, he was happy as a clam. He played in his bed until I came to get him. We're thinking we'll have good nights and bad nights for a while and it will take some getting used to. I think it really helped to take the crib down- now it's just not an option for him. And Luke won't be using the crib until after we move so Will won't think we kicked him out of his bed to give it to the new baby.

Anyway, naps have been quite a challenge to say the least. He hasn't fallen asleep in his new bed for naps yet. He gets upset when I put him down for a nap, but then he'll shortly thereafter fall asleep in his little chair in the living room or in my lap. I have been trying to carry him back to his room after falls asleep but sometimes I just let him sleep where he falls.

Will has asserted his independence in other ways as well. He refuses to sit in the child seat of shopping carts now. He either wants to walk (which usually leads to him standing on the side of the cart) or he wants to ride in the basket. He's not as cooperative grocery shopping as he used to be. He also refuses to sit in high chairs at restaurants too. He wants to sit in the booth- but not in a booster seat. Just in the booth. Sometimes he's good about staying put but usually not. At Red Lobster on Sunday he was in and out of the booth about five times. He kept yelling "lobster!" then he'd have to leave the booth to go look at the lobster tank. Finally, he seems to have discovered that he can take his pants and socks off. When we're at home, he's been taking off his shorts and socks and we'll suddenly catch him running around with no pants. I'm not sure what the appeal is for him, but he's not too into wearing pants at the moment. Maybe it's the extreme heat!

Needless to say, it's been a challenge to deal with the climbing on the furniture, the tantrums and the overall refusal to be restrained in any way. We just keep reminding ourselves that asserting his independence is an important developmental step for him, even if he doesn't always do it in a safe or helpful way. Of course, Will is still our angel straight from Heaven!! But we're definitely thankful we'll have reinforcements for when Luke arrives. The two of them are going to be quite a handful for a while!