from cradle to bed.

When I saw this bed online almost a year ago I thought to myself, "good god Ikea, you are truly genius. This would have been my dream bed as a child and I hope that you still sell it when Iris is old enough to sleep in it!"

I drooled over it for a few weeks, imagining curling up in the reading nook reading Harry Potter as a thirteen year old. I pretended I was five again and that I was laying on my back in the top bunk staring up at my starry fort, counting the stars. Little did I know at the time that Iris would be sleeping there sooner rather than later, as you may have been able to tell from recent pictures.

Before Iris was born, my mother took me out and bought us the most gorgeous old-style crib in dark espresso. It had detail reminiscent of some of the antiques I had grown up with and I fell in love with it. Iris had other ideas, however. She slept by my choice next to my side of the bed in our room in her rocker for around eight months until she outgrew it and decided to try moving her into her own room. I took the crib mattress into our bedroom to make the transition easier on her. I played with her in the crib during the day, but she refused to nap there or even let me out of her sight without screaming. We tried moving her into the crib to sleep a few weeks later and it was the most miserable experience of parenting I've had. I stood over that crib for hours and hours - rocking, singing, shushing, patting, and nursing. But I could not put her down in the crib without her immediately waking up crying. 

I tried this a few times before I decided that it was not worth it. I do not believe that it's okay to leave your child to cry, for any period of time. I believe that teaches learned helplessness and is not in any way loving. Iris is going to be our only child and I don't want to waste the precious moments of her infancy struggling, crying and screaming over something that can be avoided all together. Iris' entire bedroom was already completely childproof and safe for her to be unsupervised. Why did she need to be in what is fundamentally a cage?

So, we decided to sell the crib to someone who really needed it and could use it. 

We used the money to fund Iris' big girl bed - the Kura bed.

And let me tell you, it's one of the best things we've ever done for her. 

She LOVES her bed.

She can get on...

She can get off...

And she has never once fallen out.
She goes right to sleep on it and will sleep for a few hours before waking to nurse.
She is so proud of herself for being able to get on and off, especially now that she's walking.

I sleep with her when she wakes up often and it's easy to calm her and get her right back to sleep. When she wakes up in the morning, she pulls her books up onto the bed for me to read to her and plays with my hair. She climbs all over me and gives my tummy kisses. She grins and plays peek a boo with me near the ladder to the top bunk, where she will sleep when she's old enough. The kitty has his own little cave in there for now. 

While I'm sad that we couldn't use the crib, I am so grateful for my parents' inadvertent funding of this amazing bed. Iris is such an independent spirit. The freedom this bed gives her suits her so well and makes her so happy. When she wakes from a nap, sometimes I don't even know it until I hear the ding-ding of her xylophone or her squeals of glee as she discovers the kitty within reach. A floor bed like this is a way of allowing her to exercise her power of choice, and it's easy to see that she revels in it.

I look forward to one day watching her count the stars on the canopy, design amazing fortresses and pretend she's at the helm of a great, steadfast ship. 

Sweet dreams, my baby.

a love of learning.

The terrible sleeping has resolved itself for the most part and the clingy crying has dwindled. However, the non-stop learning is still going strong! Iris has learned how to pass a ball back and forth with me, which is a great problem solving activity as she learns which way to move her arms to push the ball directly to me (she's surprisingly accurate, too.)

Her books, which are her greatest love, are becoming worn and bent from the frequency with which she reads them. She points out the things she finds interesting so that I can name what they are and also becomes very insistent that I read certain pages over and over again. She plays her xylophone often and likes to take turns with me. I've noticed that after I play a few songs on it, she gets very frustrated that she doesn't have the motor skills to play the same way. She tends to throw the mallet and get upset, but I tell her it's okay to be frustrated and she just needs to practice, which usually calms her down. I'm really amazed at her ability to understand me lately.

She has developed a new love for stuffed animals, particularly a soft teddy bear. She hugs and kisses the bear. When I initiate pretend play and ask if the bear might be hungry, she pushes him into my chest for 'memems'. She knows the names of almost all objects in the house that she interacts with. If I ask her to get me a wooden block, she does so. She knows what 'another' wooden block means. If I tell her the object is in the bedroom, she wanders off to find it and bring it back to me. She knows that 'dirty' means 'don't touch'. She knows to comb her hair with both a hairbrush and a comb.

I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting to write down. Oh, yes! I recently taught her how to blow her nose! We're still working on the using a tissue part though! I have the feeling that from now on, every day will be a learning experience for her. Even as I wrote this post, I had to change her diaper and she said 'poop'! Now that she is able to demonstrate what she's learning, I will be doing more educational and stimulating projects with her during the day such as sensory bins! I wish Marius could be here to see all of this new learning and growing. 

montessori style in motion.

I did a little bit of reorganizing today. I've been really liking the idea of giving Iris full access to exploring the house (minus the kitty's litter box and electronics). I have completely baby-proofed her room so that she is free to play unsupervised.

I got a little creative and made four of her shelves into a happy, friendly place for her. I put two pictures against the wall to bring a little but of color and art into her shin-high world. I pushed the paperback books to the back and put more appropriate board books in the front, along with Sophie the giraffe! The ears of the bunny in the top left shelf are her comb and brush - her absolute favorite things to tote around. The bottom left pink square is a box of small stuffed animals and other toys for when she learns how to pull it out.

,

She has toys in the living room where we spend most of our time, and I plan to clean out my kitchen cabinets and dedicate one drawer to her. I'll place a few pots, wooden spoons, measuring cups and other safe kitchen items inside for her to freely pull out and play with. It will keep her out from under my feet (literally) while cooking, and she will feel involved in what I'm doing as she gets older. 

She also has her own section of the coffee table where we keep books.

She loves to sit there and pull them all down, flip through them and push them around on the floor.

Eventually, Iris will move to her own bedroom to sleep. But for now, it is still just the playroom and Kitty's room. Considering how small she is, it's amazing how keeping toys placed strategically around the living room are redirecting her from the things we don't want her to touch. She is beginning to learn which things are hers to do with as she pleases, and which things are not to be played with. 

In the last week, not only has she physically developed in huge strides but she has bloomed mentally as well. She understands words that I say, even phrases.
She knows:
milk
mama
daddy
go get that kitty!
over there
come over here
dance baby!
put your head back (to wash out the shampoo)
I love you

It's really quite amazing. I love watching her explore and learn! I'll be doing some more work on her room this week and Iris' nine month check-up at the doctor is on Friday! Luckily, she won't be having to get any shots (thank goodness, I take it worse than she does!) Then hopefully we will have time for a play date with her little friend who is the exact same age!

Looking forward to when Daddy comes home!