Safety

Subtitle: Safety in our house and the next stage of potty training. We have a two story house, which means we have stairs. When we put Brendan in his "big boy" room, we decided to put the baby gate in his room. We didn't want him falling down the stairs in the middle of the night if he woke up and we keep a monitor in there. Fast forward to today... I stopped using the gate in his room once Kaylee was mobile cause we needed it at the bottom of the stairs to keep her from going up them during the day. So we had put one of those doorknob covers on his door instead. Now that we're doing well in daytime potty training, I'm starting to try things to help with nap (haha, like he still takes those!) and bed times. So we removed his doorknob cover and started putting the baby gate in the hallway at night. He has yet to come out of his room at night. The last time I tried that, he bolted out as soon as I put him in his room at night. It's like he's had a barrier for so long he won't go past it now. I've even closed his door and yelled to get him to open it. Poor baby. So we'll probably stay in pull-ups at night for a while. I even showed him that the bathroom light would be on and have left pull-ups on the counter in there in case he does decide to get up in the middle of the night. During the day he usually goes by himself. I think I'm just gonna have to go buy an extra set of sheets (or two) and grin and bear the accidents. He pretty much knows that he can pee in the pull-ups, so he does. At least once he decided to poop in the potty, he knows he doesn't like doing that in his pull-ups. Lol. The other thing I'll need to do to help him out is box up some of the toys so he doesn't constantly have an obstacle course between his bed and the door. His room has been so messy recently, he frequently sleeps on the floor instead of in the bed. I guess Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon need the bed more! Note: I know, I know... time to be a mean mommy and make HIM clean up his toys. I'm getting there! Meanwhile, we're starting to contemplate our options for when to move Kaylee into a "big girl" bed. I think we've decided taking the front off of her crib to convert it to a toddler daybed is our best option. The bed Brendan has is technically hers, but we have no idea what to do get Brendan furniture-wise for now. He is desperately in need of a bookcase (might have to go to IKEA, darn!). And there is a spare bed cause it's a bunk bed set, but that would require purchasing a bunkie board and mattress. So... cheap is best for now. We don't really have a good spot to store the crib anyway. And we haven't decided yet if we'll need it again (that opens another can of worms for another post). And to end the post... a word of warning. When putting up those oh so wonderful baby gates that adjust so perfectly to your walls and keep your children safe... try not to pinch your finger. It hurts and leaves a nasty bruise :-(