Transition Time!!

We have BIG CHANGES going on around the Erb household in preparation for the baby's arrival.

First off, I am proud to say that not only is Preston officially taking one longer mid-day nap, he's also beaming with pride as he's now in a BIG BOY BED!!! We borrowed my brother Collin's old twin bed and took the plunge last weekend. I am nervous to post this, as I'm obviously tempting fate, but so far, it's been a dream. (pun intended.) We've taken baby steps to make the transition and there's still more to come, but his new room is definitely starting to take shape. We started by removing the bumper from the crib a few weeks back, then setting up the big boy bed along one side of his room, then eventually switching the bed and crib and putting him in the new bed. We have an extra long/extra tall guardrail on the outside of his bed, and a long body pillow between him and the wall. So far, he's either A.) not interested in escaping, or B.) Just hasn't discovered that it's a possibility yet. Let's hope it's A. He's gone down for naps and bedtime like usual. No changes in sleeping patterns, either. I think a big part of the success thus far is that we've kept his sleep routine exactly the same. Bath, book, snuggles, bed. Kevin and I are ecstatic. GO PRESTON!


Anyways, I've had fun re-decorating/re-purposing his room into more of a big boy room. Right now, we are sticking with white sheets and his trusty blankies and bunny (obviously) because that's what he's used to and I didn't want to overwhelm him with new sheets at the same time, but he's also got blue and green sets to match his cute new bedding that we'll add in a few weeks, which looks like this:

He's got a new blue dresser coming Tuesday, he's getting a new chair and lamp for our book reading marathons, and we're going to move some of his larger toys into his room. Specifically his adorable little tool bench and keeping his old fashioned school desk in there too. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty happy to see some of the toys leave our living room.

Another big boy transition is that Preston's in the (very very) beginning stages of potty learning. He will tell us when he has to go, and we have both a small potty and a potty seat for him to sit on. He hasn't actually GONE POTTY (essential to the training process, apparently...) on the toilet yet, but he does ask to sit on it quite a bit and tries to go. I'm actually really relaxed about it and feel like if it takes another year, then so be it. However, I can think of things I'd rather do than diaper two kids multiple time a day. Anyways, in an attempt for him to associate pottying with the bathroom, we are changing many of his diapers in there and got a great little stepstool with storage for wipes. He loves it. Not only is it supposed to help them potty on the big potty, but it also gives him some serious freedom to climb up to the sink, wash his hands and brush his teeth on his own. He loves it. Who knew a step stool would offer such entertainment? (And such cute buns to go with it!)




As another reminder that he's growing up, Preston is talking up a storm lately! He can sing "E-I-E-I-O!" and requests "Donald!!" in the car to hear Old McDonald. When we ask him if he needs help (going up and down the stairs with us, for example) he'll say, "Nope, got it." He says "please," "thank you," and "love you." Another new phrase is "do it by myself!" He'll say "seatbelt" to remind us to put on our seatbelts when we get in the car, (which we obviously always do anyways.) And then when he hears them click, he says, "safe!" He adores watching and playing golf. When it's on TV, he'll say, "In the hole!" or, "Ohhh! Missed it." Driving down the street, he sees someone on scaffolding and says, "Going up, up, up!" or "front loader/bulldoder (bulldozer)/big digger right there!" Seriously, if I could just bottle him up at this stage, I would. It really is precious watching his little personality and hearing his language develop. With everything else going on, it's a nice little reminder to cherish every moment of this time with him as he's getting so big and going to turn 2 in just three short weeks!!

Here he is watching his beloved garbage truck friends leave:



In pregnancy news----
I'm now in week 33 and feeling HUGE. I'm serious... huge. Swelling, heartburn, cankles, peeing all the time, uncomfortable sleep. All the good stuff that happens at the end of pregnancy. Sorry, I don't mean to complain... and we've had a wonderful break in the heat with temps in the 70s and 80s & low humidity the past two weeks. Honestly, I am well aware and remember clearly from my pregnancy with Preston just how much worse it could be. On a more positive note, my appt this week went perfectly, the baby's heartbeat was 149, my blood pressure was 102/79, and I'm measuring right-on at 32 weeks. She's moving a lot and my chiropractor is going to start working on opening up my hips, ribs and lower back in preparation for the big day starting at my next appointment. Until then... my heartburn and cankles send their best.


EDITED TO ADD:
I gracefully tripped and dropped our crappy digital camera today (darn!) I'm fine- I didn't actually fall, but the camera did, and fine it is not. I was able to get our pictures off of it, but we can't take any more. Going to shop around for a good one and taking suggestions! :)