We’re still unpacking, rearranging, cleaning, organizing and decorating, but it feels great to settle down a little bit.
In the meantime, I turned 7 months pregnant this weekend.
Whoorlita (is that what we are calling her? Whoorlito and Whoorlita? Wito and Wita?) is kicking like crazy, as well as making my hips feel like I’m an 80-year-old arthritic during the nights. Good thing I donated my maternity body pillow to Goodwill TWO WEEKS AGO. Seriously. How ridiculously stupid could I be? Ridiculously stupid, apparently.
Over the weekend, my extremely agile and handsome husband (forever indebted, D) put California Closets to shame when he turned the kids’ run-of-the-mill closet into a shelving haven. And it only took 13,000 trips back and forth from Ikea! Which means 13,000 ice cream cones!
If you have followed this blog over the years, you know nothing gives me more pleasure than organizing. I had a maniacal grin on my face for the entire duration of unpacking clothing bins and setting up this closet. (I even rearranged the clothing that will remain in the clothing bins for the next couple of years. By size. And season. FOR I AM AN ORGANIZING GODDESS.)
(Or crazy.)
Although the new place has 3 bedrooms, we’ve decided that the children will share a room. To be completely honest, I transitioned from OMG THAT COULD NEVER WORK to BEST! IDEA! EVER! in the span of 10 days. I’m truly super duper excited. Speaking of children sharing rooms, have you read this post by Rebecca? Beautiful.
I’m curious, though. How many of you have children that share rooms? Any words of wisdom? Obviously, Wita will be in our room for several months until she can make it through the night, but I’m excited for the day she and Wito can say goodnight to each other from across the room.
Which brings me to the next question…what should Wita sleep in for the first couple of months? Wito slept in his own crib in his own room at 2 weeks old, so we haven’t dealt with this issue before. We have a Moses basket, but frankly, I would really like something not so close to the floor. Should we assemble the crib in our room? (We have the Stokke Sleepi, so it’s pretty space-efficient.) Buy a bassinet? (I am so in love with the Cariboo Folding Bassinet, but not sure I can justify the cost for the short time being used.) You should know that sleeping in the same bed is not an option for us personally, although I have absolutely no problem with you doing it. Peace be with you!
You see? THE QUESTIONS. They burn. Please help.
birdie
April 6, 2010 at 9:23 amThe Arms Reach Co-Sleeper (http://www.armsreach.com/ ) is awesome. We had the mini. It can stand alone like a bassinet, but is best attached to the adult bed. So convenient for breastfeeding! The baby is right there with you and you get all the benefits of co-sleeping but she has her own sleeping space.
You look great!
.-= birdie´s last blog ..Take it to the Limit… =-.
EmilysHollow
April 6, 2010 at 9:29 amI also got the cosleeper for our little man due in July. I got it used, off of CL, because I didn’t want to spend full price on an item used for a few months, either. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it so far!
PS – what shelving is that from Ikea? I may need to make a trip…
Hey Emily, it’s the Antonius and Hensvik shelving and brackets.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/bedroom/10398/
.-= EmilysHollow´s last blog ..Another List =-.
heidi
April 6, 2010 at 9:30 amI have 4 kids. Two in one room, two in another. They all slept in a bassinet in our room for the first couple weeks/months. As for words of wisdom… I don’t really have any. We haven’t had too many problems with it.
.-= heidi´s last blog ..My mind, in bullets so you don’t get lost =-.
Eleanor's Trousers
April 6, 2010 at 9:31 amMy two younger sisters shared a room from the minute they were big enough for bunkbeds. And when my parents bought a bigger house, they still wanted to share rooms- they got lonely. It may just be the jealousy talking, but they are still so much closer than I am to either of them.
It worked until they became teenage girls and insisted that no one touch their things. I’d recommend being sure everyone has a space that is just for their own personal stuff and no one else is allowed to touch it.
.-= Eleanor’s Trousers´s last blog ..Spring Cleaning =-.
Mimi O.
April 6, 2010 at 9:33 amBassinettes are great, but they really only last for a few months at the most. I might go ahead and set up her crib in your room if you suspect she will be in there for longer than three or so months.
My boys share a room (they are 4 and 2) and they love, love, love it! I think it is a great bonding experience for siblings.
Jessica
April 6, 2010 at 9:36 amAs for sharing rooms, it can work out fine. My brother Luke is 8 years my junior, and we shared a room. I was especially impressed with his dexterity; he could wing an empty baby bottle and land it right on my head from across the room. I suppose there is the thing about sleep disruptions for one child or the other, but they would likely both adjust.
I realize that my vote has less weight than those of your friends who actually have children, but that never stopped me from having an opinion before. I say, use the Stokke Sleepi until she is ready to move into her own room, that way the bed remains familiar even though she gets transitioned to another room.
.-= Jessica´s last blog ..Details of My Awesomeness, in list form =-.
samantha jo campen
April 6, 2010 at 9:37 amWe used the bassinet portion of the pack n play until he was four months old (AND NINETEEN POUNDS) and couldn’t sleep on it anymore without fear of BREAKING it so then he went to his room. That worked great for us. I thought about the co-sleeper but I wanted something we could use afterwards too, like the pack and play. But I know people who loved it so there’s that as well.
YEAH FOR BABIES!
.-= samantha jo campen´s last blog ..Considering a polygraph =-.
Manda
April 6, 2010 at 9:38 amWe were given a bassinet a few weeks before our first was born and it was perfect and our baby ended up sleeping in it for six months! It had wheels and could be moved room to room for, ahem, adult time. It had a short shelf life, but is much smaller than a crib or pack-n-play … Was so worth it! We have it stored until next baby!!
.-= Manda´s last blog ..The new sheriff in town =-.
Grete
April 6, 2010 at 9:40 amI’m pregnant with our first child, but we are planning to just use a pack-n-play in our bedroom at first, then moving it into our second bedroom (our office). We live in a 2-bedroom apt, so it saves us space not to have a crib at all… Hopefully by the time he outgrows the pack-n-play, we’ll have a living arrangement that accomodates a big-kid bed by that point. We have a lot of friends in similar space-issue apartments who have been able to have this work well. :)
jora
April 6, 2010 at 9:45 amI have the Cariboo, and although it is pur-ty, I don’t like the fact that you have to stand up to check on the baby (I compulsively check to see if the baby is breathing….I know, coo-coo). The mini co-sleeper is nice b/c you can look right in and even touch her….. Or use the crib you have — I hear great things about it and then you don’t have to buy something that will get used for just a couple of months!
I love the idea of kids sharing room, BTW!
.-= jora´s last blog ..Inspired By Soulemama…. =-.
Amanda
April 6, 2010 at 9:46 amI actually got the Cariboo Folding Bassinet and LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVED it. Did I say love? We have a two story home and we could take it downstairs during the day and upstairs at night during his itty bitty stage. My kiddo was/is not a good sleeper and so he stayed in our room til about 4 months. We also got the changing pad attachment and would use that as a our downstairs changing area. After he stopped using the bassinet to sleep in, we just kept it downstairs for changing him for a good while–you know until he became a super duper flip flopping machine. Anyway, I highly recommend it. And it’s easy on the eyes too…
Woohoo! POINTS FOR CARIBOO!
andrea
April 6, 2010 at 9:47 amNo insight here, but at some point our kids are going to share a room. Once I can figure out a design style that works for both genders I’ll be really excited.
My sister and I shared a room off and on throughout our childhood and even though she was a total pest and got into my stuff I was actually sad when we moved into a house that allowed for us to have our own rooms.
Looking great, I can’t believe you’ve only got a few more months!
Amy Smith
April 6, 2010 at 9:47 amOh we have been there. At 8 months the boys started sharing a room and I thought I was bidding my sanity goodbye, but they LOVED it.
Brighton started sneaking into Levi’s crib to sleep with him. NOT something we advocated, but really sweet :) Proof: http://www.flickr.com/photos/minismith/2485878889/in/set-72157605015839304/
Now at ages 3 and almost 5, they refuse to sleep in their separate twin beds, ALWAYS opting for curling up in a twin together. I think it’s worth the initial upheaval for the bonding that happens. Nights are such a hard time for kids and to have each other is really special.
That’s the most precious photo I’ve ever seen!
MO
April 6, 2010 at 9:49 amThe Co-sleeper is the BEST:)
.-= MO´s last blog ..Cool kid =-.
Sunshine
April 6, 2010 at 9:53 amMy son and daughter started sharing a room a little over a year ago (they were 3 and 1 at the time). We all still think it was the best idea ever.