Carter's in a Big Boy Bed!

This past weekend, at 17.5 months, we switched Carter to his toddler bed. We mentioned it around 14 months (when we switched Logan)....but Carter wasn't ready. For starters, while he takes several steps at a time, walking alone (without any toys) is not his preferred method. He does stairs well enough, I'm not quite ready to have him come out of his room and be near the stairs without our knowing. Yes....we removed the gates once Carter mastered turning around for the stairs. John and I can't stand living in a gated community. Perhaps it is the type of gates we have that were annoying to open, but nonetheless we were glad to be free of them!

So after a few months...and after Carter mastered walking...we continued to hem and haw. See right now, Carter still sleeps until 8-8:30. We knew that Logan had started waking up earlier shortly after he switched to the toddler bed....but every kid is different. Logan currently wakes up early right now 6:15-6:30, but he climbs into my bed and either watches some cartoons or plays with some toys while I catch a bit more shut eye.

But we decided to just go for it. We all helped take the crib part down together (it converts) and then we helped Daddy assemble the toddler bed. The boys climbed around in there and Carter was very excited.

The first couple nights so far have been great! We stay in his room for now and read to him to help him fall asleep, then once he's out we leave. He stayed asleep all through the night and got up around 7:30 - not to shabby!!

Let's hope it continues to go so well. Yay for a crib-free household!

Train Day

We had such a fun adventure today as a family! We drove to a nearby train station and boarded the train. The boys were both very excited. We sat on the top (as that is where Daddy sits when he rides the train daily...). We went about 4 stops - both boys really excited the whole way! They kept looking around the train...then back outside. At one point, a freight train passed us going the opposite direction. Logan's eyes were nearly cross he was trying to look at it all!

After 4 stops we hopped off and walked a half a block to 2Toots. It is a cute little restaurant where your food is delivered via a little train. Our friends Kathy, Drent, Maddie and baby Emma met us there. The kids were so excited to be together and eat together. We had a nice lunch....a little distracted by all the train action, but they did very well.

We said good-bye to our friends and saw a bunch of police cars zooming around downtown, just up a block. We walked over and saw even more police, firetrucks and an ambulance. Then we noticed smoke about 2 blocks up just billowing. I pray for the family whose house or business caught on fire. That being said, it was very cool for Logan to see the firemen in action. We saw a couple of them wait for the call for a back-up truck and you can tell as soon as they got it. They all quickly grabbed their gear, ran to the truck and sped outta there.

We walked around a bit more waiting for our train. Carter was so super tired, so John and I took turns carrying him...which did I forget to mention it was 90 degrees with a heat index around 98? Yeah, next time we attempt a cool adventure like this....we should pick a cool day. :)

The train ride home was just as exciting and the boys were conked out within minutes of being in the car. It was a very fun family day.