Big boy bed, take 2....and car seat news

With all of our sleep problems, I let my boys stay in cribs as long as possible.  Liam slept in a crib until right before he turned 3, and then spent a month plus sleeping in a pack-n-play as we moved from Alabama to Alaska.  He moved into a big boy bed at 37 months and the transition was so smooth.  He even stayed in his bed every morning until I got him for about 8 months.  We don't have that issue any longer. ;-)

We had movers this week as it takes so long for stuff to move between Alaska and Alabama.  Then we got loaner furniture from base (something that is available at OCONUS bases).  I suggested we leave Ben's crib here in Alaska as it now has duct tape on one leg and needs to be thrown out.  We got Ben a single bed and put Liam's old rails up. 

When asked which bed, he wanted to sleep in, he pointed to the bed and said "that one."  At 38 months, he had no problems with this transition:

I think Ben looks so much like Liam here.  Ben is 38 months now, and here was Liam in his bed at 37 months:

Liam saw Ben's photo and even thought it was him......LOL!

In other news, I turned Ben forward facing at 37 months as he is now 34 pounds, and I didn't want to be stuck with the wrong carseat during the move if he went over to 35 pounds.  I am proud that Liam was rear-facing for 34 months and Ben was rear-facing for 37, nearly 38 months.  Liam meets the minimum criteria for a booster seat, but he will be 5 point harnessed for awhile yet.  I don't expect removing his 5 point harness (both seats we have convert from 5 point narnesses to high back booster) until he is 6 years old.

I am hoping we can trash the crib this weekend.  I have ZERO angst about leaving the baby stage behind.  I am loving the boys being able to talk and follow directions.  The baby stage with both boys was full of so many challenges and so little sleep that I don't miss those days at all.

Did I just say I am happy in THIS moment?  I did, and it feels good to be here.



Conversation with Ben

This video shows Ben's articulation, his receptive language, his distraction, and his pragmatic language.

How normal is his language for a 38 month old?  His school district evaluation showed 20% delay, but I wonder if it is more.  I know he is talking more than Liam at this age and answering questions better, but his articulation and grammar seem delayed to me.

Toothless wonder

Most kids lose their first teeth somewhere around age 5-6, so I was shocked when Liam told me that he had a loose tooth on Wednesday.  I checked in his mouth and found one tooth that was loose and another that was incredibly loose.  I checked with friends with older kids and they assured me that teeth could be loose for weeks or months before falling out.  I ordered a book about the tooth fairy and a tooth holder from Amazon, and figured it would get here in plenty of time.

Except it didn't.....48 or so hours later and we had this:

We were at dinner and Liam was struggling to eat his hamburger, so I cut it up for him and Dave was feeding it for him.....when Dave watched Liam's tooth literally roll out of the spot toward his tongue.  Our waitress fetched us a magic tooth fairy container (i.e. lidded solo cup):

First tooth gone at 4 years and 9 months old and proving yet again that Liam will follow no one pre-determined developmental chart.

And this was some time ago....and now one of those two little teeth are gone: