Monday, February 22, 2010

Moving On Up.

I very distinctly remember a conversation I had with my Mom when I was engaged. I sighed and frowned and confessed that I did not, in fact, particularly like children. I'm the youngest in my family and one of the youngest cousins in my family, so I simply didn't grow up around kids. I was the kid. I never had the desire to babysit or work in the nursery. I told her that I always had wanted children, but I was a tad worried, seeing as it might be a little important to actually like kids before having your own.

Then she confessed that she, too, had never particularly liked kids, either.

I was astounded. My Mom? The sweetest, most nurturing person out there, didn't like kids?

Then she leaned over and let me in on a little secret. "Don't worry," she said, "You will love your own children. Whether you have your own or adopt, you will love them."

And she was RIGHT.

My husband and I are both ridiculously in love with Cub and having children has also made me more compassionate and sensitive to other kids, too. I'm starting to like kids I don't know and I'm loving the kids of my friends. This is good.

I'm not sure where I want to go with this, except that I've seen myself grow through this whole mothering process. Not only do I like kids now, I'm also adapting to the world of primary colors. This is kind of a big deal. If you had asked me a year ago if Cub's room would ever house primary colors, I would have gagged and said, "NO!" in my most disgusted voice. And then the Katie now would crawl through time to the Katie then and bonk her on the head. Because, oh my word, you never say never when you become a parent. You will always prove yourself wrong.

Hence, Cubbie's new room.

The theme of his room (I'm kind of a theme nerd) is "Go!" because this baby is on the go. Whether it's our daily outings or planned vacations, he's seen the western deserts, toddled into the ocean, and ridden a boat across the lake. Planes, trains, and automobiles. He's seen it all. I wanted his room to reflect that, so you will see a common thread of cars and such in the room. We found his bed (and bedding and such), cube storage, and his little red table at IKEA (full assembly required!), while everything else came from Target and Hobby Lobby, respectively. We are going to add a map above his cube storage and plan to mark where Cubbie has been. We also have three clocks to hang on the wall, to show the three time zones in which his extended family lives. Those will get done in due time. For now, this is what we've got!

Firstly, a little peek into the room before we changed it. It served as a guest room/catch-all for our stuff. We were just about to give the bed away when I took the picture, which is why the bed isn't made!


And, after!

My husband chose the bedding and the tent canopy. The bed can actually flip over to form a loft, hence, the ladder you see against the wall! We opted to splurge on the grey paint, making sure to buy paint that could withstand the usual toddler antics: Sharpies, grape juice, etc.

I found this little wooden step stool at Hobby Lobby and Cub uses it to climb into bed!

The wall looks blue here. It's grey. That's what you get with a flash! Anyway. This is the cube storage. It is taller than Cub. It's actually pretty big, but I realize you can't tell that in this picture! Oh well. Also notice that the toys are not perfectly organized and the books are not perfectly stacked. This is because, as I've mentioned in previous posts, Cub puts his own stuff away--and how it looks is good enough for me!

The red car under the red table is a bean bag chair. Cub LOVES the alphabet canvas he's touching in the picture. He loves to identify the picture for each letter. I told him to find the yo-yo, and that's what he's doing here!

A photo collage on one wall. I hope to add to this as he grows. They are pictures of Cub on his adventures! These show him on various trips to Arkansas, Aruba, Arizona, and the lake. The bottom large picture you see is of he and his cousins in Arkansas. His older cousin is driving his Power Wheels tractor, while Cub and his other cousin ride in the bucket. How cute is that??

And, lastly, I shall end this post with a picture I took of Cub this morning:


My little sixteen month old, in his big boy bed! AH! He slept there for the first time this weekend. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck. He wasn't sure about it at first, but he's warming up to it. I'm sure there will be more challenges ahead, but for now, he stays in bed and sleeps all night. We're crossing our fingers!

Phew! Long post. That's all for now.

Have a lovely day!

9 comments:

  1. So cute! I've been looking for primary colored bedding for my boys' room and have not been successful. I keep saying I have to head to Ikea, and now your post has motivated me to do so. Thanks!

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  2. Way to go Caleb! I'm impressed that he sleeps in there without a bedrail and doesn't fall out. That's amazing. What a big boy!

    I'll pray he follows after Sophia and loves his big boy bed. It is tough to get used to at first, but soon, it'll be just like normal to you.

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  3. Even though our kiddo is not here yet, it is amazing how the kid STUFF has already taken over...and I kind of like it. SURPRISE! I'm so glad you did Cub's room in this theme--I love it! Makes it so personal to have his travel pics on the wall, and I love a photo collage. Such good little boy's room. :)

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  4. Just adorable! (And yet I have to say that I had a mini-panic when I realized that 16 months is not very long and in that time I will have a little boy big enough to sleep in a twin bed...crazy!)

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  5. Cute room! I'm so impressed that he sleeps in his big boy bed so readily. You're inspiring me to get Henry (26 months) into his!

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  6. I'm with you on the whole not liking kids thing. I went even as far to say, I didn't want children. I told my now husband that if having a family was important to him, it wasn't something I could give. But after being married for 5 years, experiencing miscariages my desire to be a mom grew.

    I love my little bean, and yes, my love of other babies has grown, but only if they are behaving. Children who are unruly and misbehaving, I still have no patience for :)

    Also, Cub's room is adorable!

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  7. I'm very impressed with Cub already being/staying in his big boy bed...it gives me hope that the transition for Audrey can go smoothly! I love the theme of his room, so fun/perfect for a little guy on the go!

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  8. It's hilarious that you mention "not liking kids" because I totally felt that way! But I love my own little one. And, I am pretty much the church nursery coordinator and anything else to do with little ones. Oh how times change!

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  9. Quite the transformation, indeed! I really like the arched window in that room. I bet Caleb feels like he's sleeping in his own personal fort each night, and that's just cute. I bet he loves having new territory to explore.

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