Behold: the Big Boy Bed

Big things are happening around here. And I’m not talking about my belly. Miles has officially moved into his Big Boy Bed in his Big Boy Room. As Victoria Beckham would say, this is MAJOR, people. It’s a little bittersweet, of course. My baby’s growing up. I will miss seeing him bottom-up in his crib. But I am pretty proud of how his new bed turned out.

In a fit of creativity, I decided to make him an upholstered headboard. This was my inspiration, and this was my back-up. Mine came out much cuter, don’t you think? I found the directions here. I got plywood from Home Depot and foam, batting, and fabric from Joann’s. The hardest part was finding a place to do the embroidery. I finally found a mom-and-pop sports shop that does team jerseys and stuff like that. Also, hanging the headboard on the wall was a bit of a challenge. (The photo doesn’t show all the extra holes from our first attempts!) We ended up using some brackets meant to hang bathroom mirrors.

As you can see, we’re big into trucks and trains and other vehicles around here. The sheets are from Olive Kids (purchased with a 20% off coupon at Bed, Bath & Beyond), and the adorable Thomas duvet cover is custom-made by my super talented seamstress mom. Clearly, the sewing gene is not inherited.

I was especially excited to find this cute IKEA doll bed, which we presented to Miles at the same time as his new bed. “Look, now Curious George and your doggies can sleep in a big boy bed, too!” Or, you can use it as a step-stool to climb up on the dresser and unravel an entire roll of double-sided tape which Mommy stupidly left up there during naptime. Guess which part Miles was most excited about?

It’s been a transition, that’s for sure. We’ve had many nights when he’s talked about monsters, begged us to sleep with him, and said he misses his crib. But he seems to be getting over it. He usually stays in his bed at night once we get him in. (Fear of monsters, perhaps? Whatever works!) Naps are another story. (See above tape incident.) It’s brighter in his room during the day (thanks to the window treatment saga which I’ll save for another post, you lucky readers), so he often climbs out and messes around with stuff in his room. We’ve had many pages ripped out of books that he brings into bed with him.

All in all, though, the move to the big boy room has been a success. I just need to find some more stuff to hang on the walls, and figure out the window shades. Check out these removable wall decals I found at Wallslicks.com. Cute, huh?

In other news, you would think that since I’ve already had a baby, I’d be immune to the childbirth horror stories heaped upon new moms, wouldn’t you? But no, I’ve discovered a second, more insidious mutation: the SECOND-child birth horror stories. Like the women who barely make it to the hospital in time, the ones who arrive too late for an epidural, and the ones whose first baby was a piece of cake and the second was the colicky spawn of Satan. Thanks, people. Helpful. Real helpful.

THEME SONG O’ THE WEEK: “Gigantic” by The Pixies. That’s me!