Garrison's Big Boy Room

Garrison has been sleeping in his big boy bed for about 2 and a half weeks now, but we've just now gotten his big boy room basically finished. Yay! It was a work in progress for a long time and we're still using his old room to change diapers, get him dressed, etc. but I'm so thankful that we actually moved him to a new room and are keeping the nursery, the nursery. One day... probably once he's potty trained, we'll actually get him dressed and move all of his clothes, shoes, and pajamas to his new room. As for now, the main items that have been moved are his "hang-up" clothes and his spring and summer play clothes. Everything else is still in the nursery because it's what we need right after his bath, first thing in the morning, etc.

I am LOVING his new room. Everything turned out just like I wanted! I had a vision for his room the whole time we prepared for the transition and now it has all finally come together. I love it because it's really sentimental, very boy-like and masculine, and it will grow with him. It doesn't have a look of "This is a toddler room and you'll need to replace everything and upgrade around age 5". I'm really thankful that the bed, furniture, and "decorative items" will all grow with him and we won't have to spend tons of money on another room for him for many years. Now for a tour... (this is mainly so I'll always remember what his very first big boy room looked like)

This is looking in from the doorway.

Here's an up close look at the bed and bookshelf. The bed and bookshelf were made by Terrell's dad, Pops. The comforters came from Bed, Bath, and Beyond and the rug came from Target. I would have loved a big area rug in his room but they were just too expensive. It's hard to jusify spending over $100 on a rug for your 2 year old's room. Laying on the floor at the end of the bed is the ladder to the top bunk. We're not leaving it up right now because we don't want the little man to get any ideas... but we do need to find a permanent spot for it.

Here's the dresser. We got it at Target and are loving it.

Here's what's on the dresser. (I found the lamp and frames at Hobby Lobby and absolutely love them!) The 3 baseballs sitting on the dresser are Terrell's and he used to have them in his room. Two of them are autographed (Lou Brock and Brooks Robinson) and one is a foul ball he got at a Chicago White Sox game when he was little.

Sitting beside the dresser are Garrison's dirty clothes hamper and his bean bag (from Granna and Papa)

Between the bean bag/window and his bed is his bookshelf... and this is the top of the bookshelf. The pictures were given to Terrell as a child, the frames are from Hobby Lobby, and there is another autographed baseball... plus his piggy bank and cd player/radio that we moved from the nursery.

On the wall that's across from the end of his bed is his table and chairs (from Granna and Papa). He has had his Sesame Street characters sitting on it the entire time it's been in his new room and he usually keeps most of the food and utensils from his grill on the table so he can sit and pretend to eat. Eventually we're going to move his initials hanging above his crib to this bare wall. We're hoping to paint them the same color red as the chairs.

Between the end of his bed and his closet we hung another picture that Terrell used to have hanging in his room, plus baseball and football wall pegs from Target for his bookbag, jackets, hats, etc.

Like I said, I'm loving his new room and we're all really proud of it, including the little man! So many things were given to Garrison or made for Garrison by his grandparents and his daddy. It's a really special room and everything came together so well. There are only a few more things we need for it to be completely done. I need to find some kind of bin or basket for toys. Garrison's toys have been taking over our living room for quite some time and we'd like to move as much as we can into his room. I'm thinking the toy basket/bin could be put away and "hidden" right under his table. I also want to find a valance for the window by the bean bag. You can hardly see the other window, so it won't be needing anything. Two small things we'd like to get are a clock and a trashcan. We had both in the nursery and didn't realize how much we used them until we didn't have them. I need a clock big time. It's hard not knowing what time it is and how long you've been in there trying to get him ready for bed or a nap.

Speaking of getting ready for bed and naps, I need to update on how the transition is going. Overall, I would have to say that it's been a pretty smooth transition for the little man and we haven't had any major issues, at least nothing like what I've seen on Super Nanny and shows like that. He has done great with bedtime. I've been so proud of him. There have been a few times of him not wanting whoever is putting him to bed to leave, and there have been a few times of him crying and calling for us, but nothing major. He's never attempted to get out of bed and the crying always stops after a couple of minutes and he's been sleeping great and even later in the mornings than he did when he was in the crib. That's the good news.

Nap times have been a little more challenging. For some reason, he seems to be really wound up and a little wild man at nap time. He won't be still, there's times he won't listen, he crawls around all over the bed, etc. He just seems to want to play or be silly. My patience has been tested big time. Last Thursday he actually got out of the bed for the first time by himself. That wasn't a fun day. I took him straight to time out, had a good serious talk with him and took him straight back to bed. Thankfully, he hasn't gotten out of the bed again on his own since that day. Then the very next day he just would not listen to me at all. He kept playing with blinds (which he can touch if he's on his knees in bed facing the window), ignoring me, doing something wrong and smiling about it, etc. Oh my. It was a side of him I had never seen before and it caused us both to have a meltdown. I literally called Terrell crying. I was so frustrated and desperate that I put him back in his crib for his nap. He cried about it at first, then he just played, but he finally took a nap. From that point on, I've tried to change my approach just a little... nothing drastic that will completely throw him off, but subtle changes. Plus I always say a prayer before we start the routine to make sure I'm calm and that no matter what I won't let my emotions get out of control (and have another ugly meltdown). I've also decided to leave the room when I've had enough. If he won't listen, cooperate, settle down, etc. then it's time for me to leave and he'll just have to be upset. So far, that's working. I'm praying it continues. Since the two bad naptime days, things have slowly gotten better and every day he has taken a good nap. Praise the Lord!

Overall though, things really have been great and we're so thankful for how well he's handled the transition. He is very laid back and just sort of takes everything in stride. He's done that since he was a baby and we are super blessed for it. Speaking of the little man, he wanted to be in one of the pictures today in his new room. Of course he looked away as soon as I took it. I tried another one but he basically did the same thing. Then he was over it. Still a cute picture of my handsome, sweet (most of the time) little man. =)