Big Boy Bed

Today marked a huge milestone in Vance's life - he transitioned to a big boy bed. He's spent most of his life sleeping in the same bed, first side-carred onto our bed for co sleeping when the three of us no longer fit on our big bed (he inherited his parents' penchant for thrashing and sprawling at night, go figure), then as a stand alone toddler bed when he moved to his own bedroom.

But he's growing taller, and won't fit in it much longer. Even if that weren't the case, we'll be needing that bed for Edward soon, and didn't want Vance to feel like his brother kicked him out of his bed, so we decided it was time for him to take the next step now, while it could be a positive experience.

Once his bed was ordered, we took Vance sheet shopping. At first he enjoyed just running around the bedding section, but once we started narrowing the options and giving him choices, he expressed a clear preference for the blanket and sheets he wanted. "Dees one! Dees one!" We've been talking up his big boy bed for a few days, and today it was delivered! Vance was quite interested in what was going on, though not too sure about the two strange guys setting up the bed in his bedroom. Once they left, though, he helped me put the bedding on, and he proudly showed off his new possession to his grandma and grandpa.

And, of course, we had to get pictures.

Bedtime was a breeze, and he is now happily sleeping in his big boy bed. My little Vance is all grown up!

One Month

Despite my good intentions, blogging just hasn't happened for a while. That's okay, though, because it's taken a back seat to life, and life is more important than a blog any day. That being said, as things start to settle down, I hope to be able to post more often.

So it's been one month to the day since Edward came home. A month from yesterday, we "roomed in" with Edward at the hospital in preparation for taking him home. It was so wonderful to sleep in the same room with him, though I still didn't like that he was clear across the room. Not that the room was huge or anything, but every time he fussed or stirred, I had to go get out of bed to check on him, rather than just being able to reach out and touch him and see if he was alright. But it was the closest to him I'd been able to sleep since he was born. So there was Edward in his deluxe crib setup. Wazi's and my bed was considerably less plush, but it served it's purpose.

Edward did fantastic, though we got little sleep ourselves, so he was cleared to go home the following day. Checking out from the NICU is not a particularly fast process, particularly if your baby is on oxygen support, but around two o'clock, we made it out of the hospital and onto the road. We stopped along the way to give Edward a break from the car seat, recharge his pulse oximeter, and meet Vance who was waiting for us at his aunt and uncle's house. Finally all four of us were together again, and we made the last leg of the journey home as a complete family. It was late when we got home, but it was so, so good to be home with both of my babies at last.

Anyway, how quickly time passes! Though the days were long, it doesn't feel like a month has already gone by. There's been lot's of love, exhaustion, frustration, and joy, as we've tried to settle in our family of four. Edward has had lots of starts and stops with his eating, and still has to take most of his feedings via NG tube, but he is gaining weight like a pro. I can never seem to catch up on my sleep, but thanks to a wonderful husband, mother, and mom-in-law, I'm able to take enough naps to stay healthy and even mostly sane. I never seem to see my husband, as his time is mostly taken up with earning a living and attending school, but every so often we catch some quiet time together and can just BE. Vance is often frustrated at having to split the attention that was once solely his with Edward, but he adores his brother (and it's mutual, Edward loves to look at no one so much as he loves to look at Vance), is very sweet with him, and is quite concerned whenever Edward fusses even a little bit. We try to make up for the extra stress with lots of snuggles and stories, and overall I think we're adjusting well. And on that happy note, here is a picture of my little Valentines.

And another of Vance "nuggling" Edward.