Monday, March 21, 2011

Birthday Fish Fry

On Saturday we all went down to my parents house to spend the day in B'ville and enjoy a "birthday fish fry". There are about 5 birthdays on my mom's side of the family between February 18 and April 4, so a few years ago everyone started trying to get together sometime in March to celebrate all of them. This year a fish fry was planned at my parents' house. I think I counted a total of 26 of us there and tons and tons of fish. Terrell and I aren't big fish eaters so we had a special menu of grilled chicken. =) At that point my appetite was finally returning and I was actually able to enjoy my grilled chicken, peas, french fries, hushpuppies, and pickles.

My little man had a ball that day. My grandparents and aunt and uncle arrived while Garrison was supposed to be napping. Since he pretty much refused a nap (a definite trend away from home), we got him up early and let him play outside. He ended up staying outside the rest of the day and evening, only coming inside to have supper and later for cake and ice cream. His favorite older cousins were there as well to entertain him and he was like a little shadow to them. Whatever Meghan and Carter did, Garrison did.

Before his cousins arrived, Garrison enjoyed looking at the water and throwing in a few rocks

Looking for the rock he threw in and some fish

Hanging out with PawPaw

One of the only times I saw the 3 of them inside... right after Meghan and Carter arrived
All the kiddos playing outside

Getting ready to sing Happy Birthday (I think about half the group is to my left. I tried to fit everyone in, I just couldn't figure out how to do it)

After having cake and ice cream it was still light outside so off the little man went following Meghan and Carter. We let him play a few more minutes before making him come inside and get ready for a bath. By that point he was so tired (and flithy dirty) that he just couldn't hold it together any longer. He had a huge meltdown that lasted throughout bathtime. He just cried and cried (the screaming, mad, tired, exhausted, don't know how to calm down cry). Bless his heart. I just felt sorry for him. Such a long day of playing the hardest he had ever played I think. Finally everyone started to leave and Meghan came in the bathroom to tell Garrison bye. He couldn't seem to get himself under control at first and continued with his screaming fit, but finally he managed to get out of the tub and got wrapped up in a towel so he could give Meghan and Carter bye hugs. So sweet.

After everyone left we started to gather up all of our things to get ready to head home. That's when Garrison pulled Granna back to the rocking chair and requested that she rock him and read to him. After she read a couple of books and we told him we had to go, he went over and tried to open the door to the room where his crib is so he could go night night. Poor baby. That was a first. He was SO tired.


He slept almost the whole way home and woke up as soon as we pulled in our garage. It was a late night for the little man but he slept really good Saturday night and even slept late Sunday morning. I think the birthday fish fry was Garrison's favorite thing ever!
**********
Big announcement.... Garrison is now sleeping in his big boy bed! We tried it out Friday night once I felt up to putting him to bed and things went great. He was so excited to be in his new bed and he did such a good job. I read 3 books to him and sang a couple of songs and said a bedtime prayer before moving to sit on the end of his bed for a few minutes before leaving. I sat there about 30 seconds before he told me to leave. I was pleasantly surprised. He told me goodnight and bye bye and slept all night. =) So far bedtime has been great. I think our challenge with the new bed will be naptime. I've mentioned before that in the past the guaranteed way for Garrison to take a nap would be for me to stay in his room in the rocking chair until he fell asleep. If he kept playing and talking to me while I was in there I would go ahead and leave and he would play sometimes for 30 minutes to an hour before laying down and falling asleep. Well, things aren't that simple with the new bed. I have to sit on the end of his bed or possibly the floor and he just can't "play" in his new bed like he could in his crib. I've got to come up with some naptime strategies soon I think. This afternoon was a test, but thankfully he never got out of bed, he only called for me once, and he eventually did fall asleep. But I know I need to be more prepared next time. I may need some advice from moms of preschoolers. Hmmm, I'll just have to think on it.

Ready to sleep in his big boy bed for the 1st time. March 18, 2011








2 comments:

Megan said...

Hey Megs!

I am so glad Garrison is doing so great in his big boy bed!!! It is so funny you mentioned that about nap time being harder than bed time because I said that EXACT thing to Mike's aunt yesterday. Brae plays too before going to sleep at nap time and here lately she has played the whole time. This past weekend I went in and told her she needed to go to sleep and within 5 minutes she was asleep. I was amazed she listened! I am hoping she will listen in her big girl bed too even though it makes me nervous. I got her bedding so hopefully by Saturday night she will be in her bed too! Our babies are growing up!!

Meggie said...

Hey! That is so funny. I'm glad to know my child isn't the only one who plays before naptime. =) Yesterday I tried to make a really big deal about him eventually taking a nap in his big boy bed and told him how proud I was of him. We'll see how things go today. That's awesome that Braelyn listened to you... maybe I'll have to try that! Keep me posted on how things go with the transition. They are definitely growing up... so bittersweet!