Big Boy Bed

Today, we hit a major milestone. The crib is gone and in its place is a real big boy bed. It is bittersweet. Along with the crib, we had to move the glider out of his room, which makes me nostalgic and a little sad. For 3 years we've used it every day, either nursing in the beginning, and later reading bedtime stories every night. Now, bedtime stories will be read to Noah in bed. There just wasn't enough room in his little room for the big boy bed and the glider. But, the room looks great. Darren and I put "wallies" up on the wall behind it that match the bedspread. It finally feels like there's more personality to that room.

Now... the question is how will Noah do in the bed tonight. He has been quite conflicted about moving to the big boy bed. We bought it several months ago, but it has been sitting in boxes in the foyer and then the spare bedroom for all that time. So, we've been talking about the big boy bed for a while. Sometimes he would say he wants his big boy bed, but mostly he would say that he still wants his crib. He napped with Darren in our bed today, and when he woke up--cranky-- he was very upset about the big boy bed and especially about the wallies. He kept telling me to take the stickers off his wall. But then he decided he liked them, so hopefully that is what prevails. And, hopefully he won't get in the habit of jumping on the bed.

Newburyport Trip

We just got back from visiting Heather, Keith, Vera, Ben and Elle in Newburyport for a mini vacation. It was such a nice trip. Always wonderful to see old friends, and for Noah to get a chance to know and play with Heather's children. Vera is 5 and the twins are 3 (just a couple weeks older than Noah). Noah actually hit it off with Vera and spent most of the time paling around with her. He's always interested in playing with older kids and she was so sweet and really seemed to enjoy playing with him too. He also loved getting a chance to play with Ben and Elle. They were all so cute together.

These two pictures are from our first day there. We had wonderful weather, with the exception of the first day when it rained. But Noah and Vera didn't let them stop them. We turned around, and the next thing we knew they were out on the deck playing in the kiddie pool that had been collecting rain water. Sopping wet.

The next day we went to the beach in Salisbury-- about 15 minutes from Heather's house. It's so nice to be so close to the beach. I have beach envy.

That night we took a picnic to "Castle Hill," which is a gorgeous mansion up on a beautiful hill overlooking the beach. There is live music there every Thursday night and you can bring a picnic dinner and your own wine. It was amazing.

Here's a picture of us in Newburyport sitting at the mouth of the Merrimack river.

July 4th Festivities

We spent the 4th of July at Greydon's house with his family and Sienna and her family. Lake Barcroft (the community where Greydon's family lives) does a major fireworks display over the lake on the 4th, so it was a nice place to enjoy the fireworks and friends without having to deal with the crowds. We were also celebrating Sienna's 3rd birthday. Poor Sienna had to leave early to head to the ER because she got nursemaid's elbow. Not a great way to celebrate a birthday. But up until her elbow popped out, they were having fun.

Quinn and Mimi brought sparklers and other fun items from the fireworks store to entertain the kids. We didn't let any of the kids touch the sparklers, but they got to watch Quinn hold one.

They also bought these "snakes" which were these little disks that you light on fire and they grow into "snakes." Except, the snakes looked an awful lot like...um...poops. It was really funny.