The Last of the Big Girl Beds

The crib we used for all three girls converts to a full size bed. Last summer, I ordered the conversion kit so we would be ready whenever we decided to switch Charlie from her crib to a bed. I would prefer to just leave her in her crib until she's old enough to understand how wonderful beds are, but the dang thing (Charlie) keeps growing. So, we decided it's time. We also decided summer would be the transition period, when both of us are home and able to deal with the complete insanity of a two year-old at bedtime. Last night we discussed the fact that this week we would have a few late nights, with it being the 4th of July and us having various parties to attend. We figured it would be a perfect time to start the transition, when we knew she would be tired and not up for too much of a struggle.

We just needed to get a full size mattress and box spring. I decided to assemble the bed frame before we went to get the mattress so when we got home we would just need to plop the mattress in and call it a night. I very quickly realized our conversion kit did not have the necessary parts. We were missing the parts that allowed us to screw the side slats into the headboard and footboard. We were also missing some of the hardware pictured in the manual. We attempted to put the frame together using only the wooden dowels for the connections, but then we found that the slats that go across the frame to hold the box spring were too long. I called Buy Buy Baby, where we had ordered the conversion kit. The very helpful lady told me they would order a new one for us right away. It would be here in 14 to 16 weeks. As in more than three months. As in October. I asked her if there was anyway to get it sooner and explained to her that we were sitting with a half assembled bed, a half disassembled crib, a two year-old who needed a place to sleep tonight, and a husband who wasn't going to deal with putting a two year-old in a bed in the fall when I would barely even be home with school and cross country. She said she would try to expedite the order. It didn't sound very promising. Sorrelle cribs and Buy Buy Baby, I am not happy with either of you.

So, we decided we would just do half-ass job putting the bed together and let her sleep in it. Yes. We did. We even said out loud, "Well, if it falls, she's only six inches off the ground." Yes. We said that. We were experiencing enormous amounts of stress and that disappointed feeling when it seems like you should have had a handle on something but then it all just goes to shit. We were going to put the bed together without screws and run the slats at an angle.

We loaded up the car and headed to Big Lots because they had Serta mattresses on sale. If you have insider information that buying mattresses at Big Lots is the stupidest idea ever, please do not tell me because I just need to believe that it was a good decision. I'll tell you what is stupid, though. 99% of the people working at Big Lots. We went to the store, which is just a couple miles from our house. We scoped out the mattresses. I asked an associate at the front checkouts if somebody could help us and she paged somebody. A few minutes later, the teenage boy she paged walked towards us at a speed that would make you think he was running some sort of reverse race where the goal was to take the longest amount of time to get from point A to point B. I told him the mattress we were interested in. He went to the back storage area. He returned about five minutes later. "Yeah. We don't have that one in the full. But we do have queen if you're interested in that." Oh yes! Wonderful! Could you please get me a queen size mattress for my full size bed? That sounds perfect!

Meanwhile, our normally somewhat well-behaved kids were climbing all over the furniture at Big Lots and even running up and down aisles. I asked him to check the back and see which mattresses they did have in full size. He came back five minutes later to let me know that one of the mattresses that was $80 more was available in a full.  He told us, "The other Big Lots has it." Not, "Hey, let me call the other Big Lots to see if they have it." Not, "The other Big Lots might have it." He told us the other Big Lots had it. Jayson asked, "Where is that one? By the stadium?" and the kid confirmed that was where the other Big Lots was.

Back in the car, and we headed towards the stadium. Once we got close, I pulled out the navigator on my phone and looked up directions. There was no Big Lots by the stadium. In fact, the other Big Lots was 17 minutes from the stadium, according to my phone. We pulled into a Wendy's and Jayson got Frostys for everybody. Because that's what you do when everything else is going wrong. Eat ice cream. Then we headed towards the other Big Lots.

We got there and the girls were covered in melted Frostys. So we gave them a baby wipe sponge bath and went into the store. We asked for somebody to help us with the mattresses. It took a while, but somebody finally came. They had NO mattresses in a full size. None. Back to the car.

We drove back to the original Big Lots by our house and decided to buy the one that was a little more expensive. It was after 7:00, the kids were being awful, and Charlie still needed something to sleep on. I tracked down the big dumb kid again and he went back to get the mattress we wanted. I explained to him that we needed the mattress and the box spring. I had caught onto the mental capacity we were working with and clearly explained, "We need the mattress and the box spring. The sign here says it's called a 'foundation.' There should be two pieces." He returned with the mattress and asked us if we wanted him to bring it up front. No. Please, leave it here. I think we will just camp out here at Big Lots for the night. Once we got up front, I told him, "And the box spring? We need the box spring too." He looked surprised, as if this was a new development to him, and went back to get the box spring. He returned after a few minutes. No box spring. They were out.

I almost threw a tantrum in the store. Then, the girl working at the service desk took over. She determined that they were out of box springs. She called the third Big Lots in the area and they were also out. She told us she would give us the sale price and we could come back for the box spring when their delivery came. Yes. Perfect. Done.

We came home with the mattress. We tried to put it on our jerry-rigged bed and the bed fell apart. We tried to put it back together (oh, yes, we did!) and attempted it again, and it fell apart again. We came to the realization that even if we could get the mattress to balance on the frame, it probably wasn't safe for sleeping. So, we put the frame downstairs and Jayson got an old metal frame from the garage and cleaned it up. We did have to improvise with some wooden slats, but it was stable. We made the bed. Charlie laughed and cheered and climbed into it.

Once it was time to sleep, she was not so excited about it. Jayson spent about fifteen minutes putting her back in bed and telling her not to get out, but it eventually stuck. She is currently sleeping very soundly in her big girl bed. The plan is to get the box spring this week, and then in a few months when the new conversion kit comes in, we'll switch her to the nice wooden frame and headboard.

I am currently exhausted and will now be going to bed in my big girl bed.

Beating the Heat

Today it was 94 degrees and humid. As soon as we got up this morning, we closed all the windows and shades and turned the air conditioning on. We went outside as little as possible. This morning Lydia had violin lessons and Jayson took Audrey and Charlie to the gym. Lydia told me as we got in the car, "It is sweltering out here." We did venture outside to go to the farmers market because our favorite corn guy had promised the girls free ears of corn the next time he saw them. As soon as we walked up, he grabbed a freshly husked ear for each of them and they dug in while he sang, something he's well-known for. Then it was back home. I took Lydia and Audrey to see Brave. The girls insist we all share a bench seat so we can cuddle, and I can't really argue with that. We all loved the movie. There were some parts that were scarier than I expected and I held them a little tighter. During one particularly scary scene, I looked down at Audrey and asked her if she was OK. "Yeah," she said as she dug her fingers into her popcorn," I just got a seed in my mouth."

After the movie we came home for dinner, and then Lydia had a baseball game tonight. I was hoping it would get canceled due to the heat, but no such luck. She did great. She still hasn't had a hit off a pitch (just the tee), but she played catcher and did a great job. At one point, I overheard a boy on the team ask her when her bedtime is. She responded, "Seven. Sometimes eight. Sometimes even nine. One time in a hotel, I stayed up until eleven." He gently grabbed her arm and said, "At your age, you can't be staying up that late. You need your sleep."

Tough as Nails

We took the girls to the dentist a couple weeks ago and Audrey had a cavity. Jayson and I both were relieved that if one of them had a cavity, it was Audrey. Audrey is the child who asked the nurse for the flu shot instead of the flu mist, and watched with no emotion as the needle went into her arm. Today was her appointment to have it filled. We didn't want to give her too many details about what would happen. We basically told her she had a cavity and the dentist would fix it. She was pretty excited because she loves the dentist. When we got there, an assistant we had never met called her back, which I think threw her off just a little bit. I think the assistant would have preferred if I had stayed in the waiting room, but I wanted to be there, and Audrey wanted me there. I made sure to sit in the corner and not say much.

They gave Audrey some laughing gas, and I'll admit I was a bit disappointed it didn't make her more loopy. It pretty much caused her to ignore everybody. The entire time they worked on her mouth, she stared straight ahead with her mouth open. The dentist laughed and made jokes and asked her questions and she just stared straight ahead with her mouth open. No tears, no flinching, no complaining. When it was all done, she just looked at me and smiled.

We told her she needs to start using our toothpaste to prevent cavities. She likes the fruity taste of hers better. Tonight I told her if she doesn't use our toothpaste, she might have to get another cavity filled. She told me that's OK. It was fun.

Little Sluggers

Lydia and Audrey are playing baseball and tee ball this summer. It's through the West Allis rec department. Lydia has practices Monday through Wednesday and games on Thursday. Audrey has practice/games every Wednesday.

Audrey is the smallest on her team, having turned four just a week before the league started. She loves it and seems especially fond of running the bases. I didn't get to go to her first practice because it was also Lydia's last day of swimming. I was very excited to go to her practice yesterday. So was she. She kept running up to me all day to tell me tidbits of information, including, "Mommy, they guy (I'm assuming it was her coach, and not some random guy watching a bunch of little kids play ball) said I can't blink when I hit the ball. I can't blink. I have to keep my eyes open." I asked her to show me how she does that and her eyes got very  big as she pretended to swing a bat. On an adult, it would look like a zombie hacking at an innocent human, but on her the look was endearing. She also told me, "Mommy, after practice, we get juice and snacks. But only the people practicing. If you don't practice, you don't get the juice and snacks." Got it. Practicing is clutch if you want the juice and snacks. She also has throwing technique down pretty well, but only in slow motion. You can almost see the gears working in her brain as she slowly puts her left foot forward, brings her right arm back, rotates her arm forward, and releases the ball.

Lydia has an additional obstacle in the fact that she doesn't get a tee. It's coach pitch baseball. In a game, if they get three strikes, then they get a shot at it with the tee. This happened every time she was at bat for her first game tonight. What was great, though, is that she wasn't even that great at hitting it off the tee, so it would dribble off and land a couple feet in front of her and she could easily get a base hit. This resulted in her actually scoring a run, which she was very excited about. I'm glad she can even hit it off the tee because she has my uncoordinated genes in her. There's a reason I run. Anything else is too complex. I bike too, but Jayson makes fun of me every spring when I have to admit that I forgot how to shift during the winter.

What was really great about Lydia's game was how involved she was in it. For every batter, there was a cheer of "Here we go, (insert name here), Here we go!" Every single batter. Every single pitch. And it only got a little bit old after the first inning. She also did a great job watching the game, even when it was her turn to sit on the bench when they were fielding. She just sat there and watched. When she was fielding, we were worried she would be a little space cadet in the outfield, but she actually ran towards balls! I was very impressed.

A Weekend Away

This past weekend, we went to Minnesota to visit friends. It was a nice mini-vacation. We had a doctor appointment for Audrey first, though. We finally found out that she had shingles, it wasn't contagious, and there was medication for it. Exactly what we wanted to hear! So, we hit the road. Our first stop was Chippewa Falls. We met our friends Brooke and Steve there (they were also going to Minnesota for the weekend) and went on the Leinenkugel Brewery tour. We had done the tour five years ago, the last time we visited the same friends in Minnesota, but it's a fun tour. Lydia even paid attention for a lot of it.

The next day we headed to Minnesota. The first stop was the zoo, which was great! They have a dolphin there, which the girls had never seen before in person, so they thought that was neat. There was a dinosaur exhibit that terrified Charlie. Audrey begged to go on the monorail, so we did that too.

On Sunday we went to a water park. To our surprise, Lydia loved going down the slides. She usually is more cautious of things like that and needs a lot of convincing, but she walked right to the top and went down without hesitation. We were so proud! Audrey loved floating on the lazy river, laying on my lap. It was so relaxing. I found out that while I was on the lazy river with Audrey, Lydia had decided she was brave enough to go off the diving board and discovered she really can't swim and a lifeguard had to rescue her. Not too long after that, it started to rain with no sign of letting up, so we had to go. The girls really enjoyed themselves, though, and really want to go to a water park again soon.

Monday morning we headed home. We stopped in Madison for lunch with Grandma Deb and then were very happy to get home!

Our First Cavity

We took the girls to the dentist today for a routine exam. It turns out Audrey has a little cavity that needs to be filled. We're telling her as little as possible about it, just that she gets to go back to the dentist in a couple weeks (they love the dentist) because there's an owie on one of her teeth and the dentist needs to put medicine on it. Luckily, she won't be getting a shot of Novocaine. I guess they use a numbing gel now. Also, luckily, she's our toughest kid, so it won't be as bad as if it were Lydia or Charlie.

The Mystery Ailment

Sunday night Audrey woke up complaining that her arm hurt. Monday night she woke up complaining that her arm hurt, and then a little while later, her hand. I discovered a bunch of red bumps on her palm that looked like tiny blister under the skin. We went to the doctor on Tuesday and he was not very concerned about the arm pain and told us the bumps were a virus similar to hand, foot, and mouth disease. He told us we could give her ibuprofen for the pain and as long as she didn't develop a fever, she would not be contagious after a couple days. He said it would spread and probably last a week or two. Tuesday night, whe woke up with arm pain again. Wednesday morning, we saw that the bumps had indeed spread to her arms. Wednesday afternoon after her nap, the bumps had spread up her arm and were no longer blisters under the skin, but raised blisters with liquid in them. She also complained more of arm pain and would not use her right arm. I took her in to the doctor again, but our regular doctor was out, so she saw a different one. This doctor was stumped and concentrated more on the arm pain, but found nothing wrong. She could move it OK and no matter how the doctor twisted it, Audrey didn't seem uncomfortable. She brought in another doctor to look at the bumps and they concluded that it's a virus like chicken pox. They said she would only really be contagious of people came in direct contact with the bumps, so she needs to wear long sleeves. In June. None of the three doctors seemed to be very sure of their diagnoses, and we go back on Friday for a follow-up, right before we're supposed to head for Minnesota for the weekend. It's frustrating to see her in pain and not know what's causing it. She is such a trooper, though. I'm very curious to see how this ends.

In other news, two funny things from Lydia:

I told her that this morning I found Charlie licking my deodorant. Lydia said that was gross and I agreed. Then she said, "Now you have to put it back in your armpit! Disgusting!" Apparently, she is more worried about my delicate armpits.

Tonight Lydia told me, "I think you were cuckoo when you were a little girl." I confessed to her that I think I'm still a little cuckoo. She looked at me very concerned and said, "Should I tell somebody?"