Changes, Changes Everywhere!

October is upon us and we have taken another big life step in the Singewald house! John is now in his official "big boy bed" and going potty on his "big boy potty" more consistently too! I don't know if his parents can take all the changes!! Where did our baby go??

The last couple of weeks have flown by with school commitments, continuing to try and get into the "groove" of having us both working full-time again, and busy, but fun, weekends! We continue to try our best to have calm and quiet evenings with John though so he has the attention he needs and we all have quality time together, even though it may be short at times.

Last week, Papa Bob and Nana Joan came over for dinner. Whenever Papa Bob is around, we all know who has John's full attention! That night, when it was time for John's tubbie, he requested that Papa Bob play with him. When it was time for John to get out, this is what we found! Papa Bob had given John a new "do," which John thought was pretty funny!

Swinging, sliding and playing outside are some of John's favorite things to do! There is not a day that goes by that he doesn't request to do one of these things with us! Because our time at home is limited and winter is around the corner, we don't always have time for a walk to the park. We decided to bring John's favorite things to him, so we can enjoy them for smaller amounts of time, more often. He LOVES his new swing!!

Then we moved inside to play on his playset....
"Up, up, up....Weeeeeee down," says John.

John has become a professional at untying his balloon from the back of his little chair! One morning last week, John thought it was very exciting to untie Thomas and drive him around the living room. Every once in awhile, Thomas would let out a whistle and we would hear "choo, choo!"

Last weekend, we were lucky enough to be able to spend some time with Uncle Tim while he was home from California. John loved making brownies with Uncle Tim and was very excited to show him how he could "scoop" and "dump" the brownies. Of course, they also enjoyed eating them together too!

John was so excited to mix them together and smash the egg that he wouldn't even look up for the camera!

John and Papa Bob showed off their matching jackets on their way outside for a walk. So cute!

John was a great help to rearrange Daddy's duck decoys too!

John always loves his reading time with Nana Joan! He was especially excited though because of his new bean bag chair from Uncle Tim and Auntie Crystal for his birthday. He would plop on it and giggle as it would either suck him into it or he would roll off of it! It's all about the little things in life!

Ahhh...nothing better than my feet up, reading a book and a little quiet time with my Nuk!

On Sunday morning, John took the next step to being an even bigger "big boy!" We changed his convertible crib into his toddler bed! He has been THRILLED! We took the front off the crib and put on the rails so John is now able to climb in and out himself. Several times a day, John runs into his room saying "big boy sheets! Nigh, nigh!" He loves to read stories in his bed and really enjoys his pillow too!

When we changed his bed, we hoped that talking up his "big boy bed" would help John sleep through the night, because he was still having difficulty since I had returned to work. Most nights over the last few weeks we have all been awake 2-6 times per night for reassurance that we were there, which has then made it difficult to have the energy to teach all day too! We knew changing John's bed could either empower him and he would sleep through the night, or do the opposite and unnerve him, and he could be up all night long. Thankfully, he has slept through the night successfully! Every morning has been full of praise and we've all been happier after sleeping soundly again! We hope it continues! Now we just have to work on getting him to go to sleep in his bed. He's so enthralled with reading in it, he won't settle down to sleep unless he has a little cuddle time in the rocking chair with me. One step at a time, though! I'm just thrilled he's sleeping again!

John was full of giggles and was trying to hide from the camera, but I tickled him enough to get him to roll over!

His first nap in his big boy bed! Yes, I was a paranoid mom and wanted to block him in, since he still moves around some when he sleeps. Had I not put the ottoman and blankets there, he would have fallen out! When I checked on him mid-nap, he had his legs out and on the ottoman. Every night has gotten better and there's been less turning, so soon we won't need the entire side blocked off.

Other excitement, well, frustration really, was that Phil and I had to purchase a new washing machine last night. Our Maytag that we purchased 4.5 years ago when we bought our house decided to spring a leak and cause havoc on our mudroom floor. Because it was leaking slower at first and we thought it was just out of balance, we used it quite a few times until the water really started to run. We're hopeful that we won't have a bigger issue down the road in needing to replace the floor (and hopefully nothing moldy underneath!). This time around, we went with a highly-rated LG top-load that has more bells and whistles than I ever could have imagined! It's huge too (5.2 cubic foot) so doing laundry should be a faster task now too. Spending the money aside, I'm kind of excited to play with my new "toy!" I never thought we'd have such a "house overhaul" this summer/fall by getting a new counter top, refrigerator and now washing machine. We'd both be fine to have a LONG time pass before we have any further projects!

We are excited for our upcoming weekends to enjoy Fall and family! Phil will be in pursuit of a plump turkey this weekend, so if you see any around, please tell them to head to Cannon Falls so he can have a successful hunt! John and I may head to SJU for Homecoming chaos since it's the Johnnie/Tommie game or may vote for a quiet, relaxing weekend! We'll see which side wins out! We're looking forward to celebrating my aunt and uncle's 50th Anniversary on Sunday and spending time with family as well.

We can't wait to enjoy time outside in the Fall air and enjoy the beautiful colors around us!