Best House Ever

on September 22, 2015
in All Posts

Good day!  This awesome breakfast took me just a few minutes to throw together thanks to meal planning and cooking ahead.  Wahoo.  I knew there was a good reason that I was cooking until 9:30 PM on Sunday!

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Speaking of the weekend, people keep asking me what I did and I’m not really sure – it was one of those Black Hole Weekends… know what I mean?  I think we mostly just hung out and ran errands…  But thanks to my iPhone, I do have evidence of one really fun outing.  We went to my sister in law’s boyfriend’s house and played in his INCREDIBLE backyard.  Seriously, this place is a kid’s dream.  He has a slack line for tightrope walking…

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… An amazing tire swing, ATVs, a zipline (IN HIS BACKYARD), and a little farm!  Complete with chickens…

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And very friendly goats, one of which really wanted to take a selfie with me. 

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There were lots of toy cars for Henry to organize.  I love the way he lines up toys like this – it is so adorable.

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And there were real cars, too!  Did anyone else REALLY want a Powerwheel as a kid?  I lusted for one so badly.  The battery in this one was kind of flat so my awesome SIL pushed Henry around the backyard – that was no joke!  That thing was heavy.  Aunt of the Year!

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LOL to Claire charging through the grass.  I see so much of Henry’s daredevil personality in her already…

 

Our evening of fun concluded with an excellent dinner on the patio.  Henry keeps asking when we can go back to Mr. Richard’s – that house put ours to serious shame!  And it almost made me want to move out to the country… Almost!

 

Here’s today’s to-go lunch in my stainless steel bento box <— I loved Henry’s so much that I got a bunch more for the whole family. 

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Oh, and if you saw this post on my Instagram…

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You know that we’ve been having kiddo sleep troubles.  Claire is getting both top teeth AT THE SAME TIME (poor dear) and Henry has been coming into our room multiple times a night.  There’s not much I can do about teething (although I would like to try those amber necklaces – anyone have real success with them?), so I was mostly taking to Instagram for bigger kid advice.  I tried putting a baby gate in front of his door and explaining that it was going up as a reminder to stay in his own room (he could, of course, just knock it down) and so far – SUCCESS.  Wahoo.  I love it when the solution is so easy!  It usually isn’t so.. thank goodness!

 

What was the best thing you did this weekend?

{ 24 comments }

 

  • Kat September 22, 2015, 12:12 pm

    There is zero scientific evidence to suggest amber necklaces work and plenty to suggest they don’t. In addition, the necklaces are choking hazards. Please don’t use one. The best, scientifically proven and effective teething remedies are still things like teethers. Oragel is discouraged, Hyland’s tablets are a racket, and amber teething necklaces are just jewelry that pose a choking hazard.

    • Caitlin September 22, 2015, 12:19 pm

      That’s what I’m afraid of!! That she’ll chew it apart and choke. That’s why I’ve never used it.

      • Sunny September 22, 2015, 12:45 pm

        I know lots of moms who swear by them. They are double knotted between each bead so the idea that she could tear it apart and choke on it is absurd. We did not use one because we did not fee it helped others swear they do like most things I think it’s baby dependent.

        We love by hylands teething tablets. Teethers were never loved by J so we didn’t use them.

    • Amanda K. September 22, 2015, 10:23 pm

      I honestly think they’re just trendy. They’re a cool-looking accessory.
      If they were effective medical studies would reflect it.

  • Brandy September 22, 2015, 12:19 pm

    I wanted those necklaces to work SO bad but sadly I would say don’t waste your money.

  • Gena @ orgenazation September 22, 2015, 1:18 pm

    We did the baby gate with my daughter who at 18 months started climbing out of the crib so we had to put her in a toddler bed for safety reasons way early. She pulled down the first one in a middle of the night rage – we had to get a super heavy duty one : /

    I also got a My Tot Clock (http://www.mytotclock.com/home.php?osCsid=3d37adce213c42f9ff5a5802328e5be2) for my son when he was younger that turns yellow when it’s time to get up. It also will turn blue at a certain time to. It worked so well I had to get a second one for my daughter. As my son got older it would wake him up to try and figure out what time it was and he couldn’t go back to sleep. Waking up and still seeing the blue light helped him not wake completely up.

    Best of luck with the sleeping!!!

  • H September 22, 2015, 1:20 pm

    I don’t have kids of my own but recently read a really interesting article about the “Bedtime Pass” and it seems to have a really high success rate and has been studied by various groups: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/18/441492810/the-bedtime-pass-helps-parents-and-kids-skip-the-sleep-struggles

    • Caitlin September 22, 2015, 2:32 pm

      SO many people have sent me this! must do!!!

  • alan woronoff September 22, 2015, 2:22 pm

    Born skeptic here…
    As if there is a way to prove…..but does anyone know if “teething” really is a problem? Or is it parents’ explanation for whatever the baby may be crying about? I doubt there is any conclusive research one way or the other, but my guess is that “teething” is more OUR problem than theirs.

    In the meantime, good luck getting through the crying nights. Been there. Done that. Don’t want to again.

    • Rachel September 22, 2015, 3:37 pm

      I totally agree that teething is used way too often to blame for a child’s sleep troubles. This article explains: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_kids/2015/05/teething_symptoms_in_babies_are_not_as_bad_as_parents_think.html

      That said, it could be legitimate… but usually only for a night or two before they finally break through the gums.

    • Louise September 29, 2015, 1:14 am

      Well it’s not science but to be fair, when my wisdom teeth went up and down for years they hurt like mo-fos 🙂 Teeth breaking the skin and moving around in my jaw wasn’t fun for me. My first baby was unphased by teeth, my second is unphased by anything but was miserable for the few days her teeth were coming up and through the gum.

  • Amy September 22, 2015, 3:16 pm

    Hi Caitlin. I haven’t commented before. I only have a 2 month old so this advice is coming from my cousin. She said that when her daughter (now 5, so this was several years ago) was coming into her room at night, here is what she did: she took her by the hand and walked her back to her room, tucked her into her bed and left. She said the key was that she didn’t say a word to her. Not one word. She just very calmly walked her back to her room. She repeated this as many times as necessary. She said the first night took an hour but within a few days her daughter was sleeping in her own room all night! She learned that coming into Mom and Dad’s room didn’t get her anything. I’ve filed this advice in my head for the future. Good luck!

    • Caitlin September 22, 2015, 8:10 pm

      Yeah, I think there is where we screwed up – sometimes we’d let him sleep with us (because we were too sleepy to say no). Now he wants in every single night!!!

      • Meredith September 23, 2015, 9:32 am

        We have a little boy that is a couple months older than Henry and we are going through it, too. I had a baby in May and our oldest was still in his crib. He chose to move into his big boy bed in his new room about a month after the baby came. He was good for the first month–stayed in his room and cried out for us if he needed anything. Now the last month he’s been coming out in the middle of the night and super early in the morning. We used the wake up clock, which worked for a month or two, but now the novelty has worn off. I read an article on Troublesome Tots (one of my favorite sleep websites) about flipping the lock on the door. At first I though it sounded barbaric, but after reading the article I felt a little less terrible about it. Just a concept of the room as a crib instead of being in a crib. We did it a couple nights ago and would come to him whenever he cried out or tried to get out of his room. Now, he doesn’t want the door locked, so we make a deal that the door stays unlocked as long as he stays in his bed. We also made the mistake of not being consistent right out of the gate when the problem started, and our little guy has capitalized on that. I guess it’s confusing for him if thinks sometimes we let him out of his room and sometimes we don’t. So now we are 100% consistent and so far the past couple of nights he’s stayed in his room and we haven’t had to lock the door. Similar concept to the baby gate, but we tried that and our little guy just climbed over it. I didn’t want to risk him injuring himself in the middle of the night. Here’s the article – http://www.troublesometots.com/when-your-kid-wont-stay-in-bed/

        • Caitlin September 23, 2015, 10:43 am

          Thanks!!!

  • Erin @ Her Heartland Soul September 22, 2015, 3:46 pm

    What I fun backyard! I would have loved to play there when I was little!

  • Amanda September 22, 2015, 4:07 pm

    I commented on your Instagram post also about Henry that we have absolutely loved the “OK to wake” clock. It’s incredible. My guy has been using it since he was 2.5. He’s 4 now and we’ve started using the alarm feature to get up for preschool. You set it to change colors when the kid can come out of their room in the morning. It’s awesome! Best $30 I’ve spent on him by far.

  • Lauren @ Oh Hey, I Like That! September 22, 2015, 4:46 pm

    OMG I’m so jealous that you had a selfie with a goat!!!

  • Jen September 22, 2015, 8:37 pm

    I can’t find the post, but I recently read about a prenting tip on one of the FB pages I follow, and like the concept. You make a “get out of bed” pass, kind of like a ticket. It can even be something that hangs on the doorknob. It’s kind of like a get out of jail free card. The child has 1 chance to use that pass each night, whether it be for a hug, water, bathroom, etc. then the parent takes the pass, and that is it for the night. No more getting out of bed. Sounds like a good idea!

  • Kristen @ The Concrete Runner September 23, 2015, 6:51 am

    My 3 year old did the same thing after we had our 2nd. She quickly figured out how to climb the gate, so we ended up switching her door knob around and locking her in. Then we would do some Ferber method and go in in 3-minute intervals to reassure her. It worked incredibly for us!

    I want a full review if you do the amber teething necklace. Miles is getting both top teeth as well but seems to be handling it ok right now. The bottom 2 were a different story. Zzzzz…

  • Sara September 23, 2015, 8:41 am

    Totally feel your teething pain! Our 10 month old got six in a month…the bottom two at the same time and two weeks later ALL FOUR ACROSS THE TOP!!! This mama is ready to be done!

  • Laura September 23, 2015, 9:04 am

    When my dad was little my grandma rubbed liquor on his gums and she swears it made him stop crying and be able to sleep 😉 lol

  • Becky September 24, 2015, 6:14 am

    We started using the amber necklace after first 2 teeth. Since then, he has never had a fever from teething, and lost maybe 1-2 nights of sleep each tooth. He is Henry’s age, but got 12 teeth in 12 months, so I think it’s a win. I still haven’t taken it off! Also bought one for my cousin who had like 10 ear infections in his first 18 months. As they were deciding about tubes, I gave them an amber necklace and he hasn’t had one since (also Henry’s age).

  • Jen September 24, 2015, 8:19 am

    We use the amber teething necklace, and loved it. We put it on our son around 3/4 months and he’s still wearing it at 3 years old. I’m guessing we could probably take it off now, but he wears it 24/7 so I never think to do it. I know people have mixed results, but I can tell you I believe it 100% helped our little guy who was an early teether and I believe it stopped the drooling issues too. If you decide to go for it make sure it’s an authentic amber necklace, and commit to using it. Don’t keep constantly taking it on and off. Initially we moved it to his ankle at night until we were comfortable with it (about 1 month). The “healing” comes from the amber being closest to the area you are trying to help…if that makes sense. Good luck!

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