#2 has a name!

We decided about a month ago that baby #2 will be...

Jack Michael Powell

Elise is very excited about "Baby Jack" and upon mention of his name, she often comments about his location ("He's in Mommy's tummy"), possessions ("He has a pillow"), and his upcoming arrival ("He's coming in May. Go get him?")

I ended up finding some bedding at Pottery Barn Kids to match the colors of the Haba toys that I am using to decorate his room. Elise had a blast playing in it. It arrived while we were in Texas and we set it up in the crib in my mom's house. Jack's crib will probably be dark wood like Elise's, but we haven't ordered it yet. The bedding colors are a little bright compared to Elise's room, but I think I will get used to it. I'm trying to decide which side to face out of the crib.


On that note (talking about cribs), the day after we drove back from Texas, and COMPLETELY out of the blue, Elise decided to freak out when it was time to put her in her crib for nap time and bedtime. She has always been the easiest child in the world to lay down for a nap or for bed. You just read her a book, tell her it is time for bed, pray with her, lay her down, cover her with a blanket, and say goodnight. She did wonderfully at all of the houses she slept/napped at while we were away from home for 4 weeks. Anyway, on Monday, she screamed and cried and climbed out of her crib repeatedly. Eventually, we set up the pack and play and she asked to sleep in it and slept 12.5 hours. On Tuesday, she freaked out at nap time and I ended up putting her crib mattress on the floor because she climbed out of her crib and her pack and play. I put a child lock on the inside of her door and just closed it. She screamed for a few minutes and then slept on her mattress for nearly 3 hours. On Tuesday night, we converted her crib to a toddler bed and she played in it happily for a while. When it was time for bed, she freaked out again and asked to sleep in the pack and play. So, we set it up again and she slept for 13 hours. Today, she freaked out again for her nap and didn't want the pack and play, but ended up climbing in her toddler bed (after screaming for a few minutes) and sleeping for nearly 3 hours. We made a huge deal of her accomplishment and even called the grandparents to tell them about it. She walked around saying "Elise slept in big girl bed and Mommy is so proud!" Well, tonight she freaked out again and ended up going to sleep in the pack and play.

We bought a video monitor and will be interested to watch what happens over the next few days. We were definitely thinking about making the switch before Jack comes, especially since it is already getting hard for me to lay her down in the crib with a belly, but I wasn't planning to do it this soon! At this point, we'll probably keep the pack and play and toddler bed set up in her room.

I should feel blessed that this is the first big sleep issue that we've had to deal with in 2 years, but I am very frustrated that there seems to be no explanation for this bizarre behavior. The kid used to LOVE going to bed and would ask to be put in her crib. Maybe she was just moved around too much while we were traveling. If anyone has dealt with a similar situation, let me know! Thankfully, she's still sleeping well... she's just not going down easily.