The MomGate MG1

So yes I have been a bad meal planning momma for the past week. No Blog entries, no menus for those of us who are on a very limited budget... but it has been quite the hectic week. Yes we did do the Ramen recipes and yes they were surprisingly delicious and cheap! Although next time around I will definitely do more in the flavor department. But when you really have to pinch, ramen noodles are a filling and tasty way to stretch the budget... oh and they are VERY kid friendly. My son just adores 'oodles.

So one of the reasons this past week has been rough is because Gabe decided that he didnt want to be in his crib anymore. Ever. He was crawling out of the crib and making a ruckus during nap and bedtimes. That wasnt what worried me... what worried me was the fact he had some pretty impressive bruises from his climbing escapes. So we made the decision it was time to move him to a toddler bed. Man it is hard to accept that your baby boy is growing up... and I was worried about a lot more. Gabe has NEVER been a good sleeper, from the moment we brought him home fromt he hospital he was little caffeine baby. (And to think I barely drank any caffeine while I was pregnant or breastfeeding) So how would he handle sleeping when he wasnt confined. Las Vegas made me cringe... he barely slept at all that whole week. But his safety was first concern.

SO I was happy enough just making his crib into the toddler bed, but then we'd have to buy a crib for Cait... so It was either buy a crib or buy a toddler bed. Toddler bed it was. I researched a bunch of beds and figured we'd just get a little wooden one like my parents have.

Enter Linda.

Now my mother-in-law is a very generous and loving person... but she is a bit scattered and VERY impulsive. Thats for another post... she decided that she wanted to buy the toddler bed. Which was good news to me since we are still VERY strapped for money... so she went to Toys R Us and looked at the toddler beds... and she picked out the two that she wanted to pick from. A car shaped bed or a Thomas the Tank Engine bed...

Now Gabe LOVES cars and trains... but trains are his favorite. Everytime he visits my parents he immediatly upon entering the house takes Gaggee by the hand and leads him to the basement door. My father has a train setup down there.

Since MIL was picking up the tab... we went for the Thomas bed. This was Friday night, I didnt want to wait too long because of risk of injury to Gabe... but we got home from the store too late on Friday to put it together immediatly. Gabe was crushed. I made the mistake of bringing the boxes in on Friday so Gabe saw the picture. First thing Saturday morning he ran to the box and hugged it. He was so excited. My siblings warned me that a 'play' bed was not a wise decision and I was very skeptical about it, but hey... maybe this would make him WANT to sleep? (okay my brother corrected me... they warned me it was impractical ;) )

So after Shawn put the bed together we brought Gabe up to see it... the entire time Shawn was piecing the bed together Gabe was chanting Daddy Datata (which is his word for train, think the train sound) We brought him upstairs and his face lit up. He practically squealed and ran to hug his Thomas bed. He collected all his favorite stuffed animals and even ran downstairs to grab Froggie. He spent a good hour playing on his bed before I made him come downstairs for dinner. He was not pleased.


Bedtime we brought him upstairs and did his normal routine. It took him a long while to settle down, but we let him have his freedom. About an hour later we checked on him, he was passed out on the floor next to the bed. We giggled then put him back in bed. The morning dawned with Gabe tearing apart his room and finding everything we thought we took out... think qtips with the cotton ripped off.

Naptime... we were dreading it. He is a terror when he doesnt nap. So we do the usual routine and then put him in his room for quiet time. We placed a child knob lock on the inside of his door. We have VERY steep stairs and worry about him falling down. We left him a sippy and a couple of books, not to mention the trains he has in his room. He actually took about an hour nap! Sure it wasnt as much as he needed, but he actually took a nap in his bed!


Yesterday he took almost a 3 hour nap in his bigboy bed without us having to take his toys away! And last night he actually fell asleep *IN* the bed instead of on the floor. I think maybe this transition was harder for me then for him. I went in this morning and there he was, playing on his bed with his stuffed animals, no clothing ripped from the drawers, although there was chalk drawings all over Thomas and his wall.. but whats a little chalk for peace of mind that your son is safe!