Poltergeists In The Nursery*

We have them.

If you're seen the movie Poltergeist, then you'll understand my reference to the moving chairs scene.

If not, here's everything you need to know:

– Mom surveys her relatively normal looking kitchen. 

– Mom turns her back for less than 10 seconds to get some "Mom work" done.

– Mom turns around to discover poltergeist handiwork. There is appropriate shock and horror plus dramatic sound effects. 

• • • • • • •

Of course, that's the Hollywood version circa 1982. Still, my expression when I discovered our poltergeists was eerily similar to that last shot. I think the only thing missing really was the creepy music.

It's been an interesting week since we converted the cribs. If you asked my boys they would tell you that the new beds are the best thing EVER. They were so excited about their new beds that we missed out on some serious sleep for the first 2 or 3 days (an even later bedtime than usual coupled with an early wake-up + no naps) and when they were up during the day all they wanted to do was hang out in their new beds (in a non-restful way) and drag all their toys in there and such.

If you asked me I would tell you that despite the lack of sleep it's been so much fun seeing my boys having so much fun enjoying their new beds it made the rest of it (less sleep, nods at suppertime, a bit of crankypants) tolerable – and a week later things have returned to a state of near normalcy.

Or a new normal at least.

Because obviously they can get out of bed now at will.

And they do.

And do and do and do.

Stern Mommy™ has had to make a few appearances this week. I don't care much for Stern Mommy™, but I have toddlers now and the reality is that her attendance is required here and there so as not to raise complete hooligans, so I'm on it.

Of course when the poltergeists showed up, Stern Mommy™ was nowhere to be found. Mostly because I was busy looking like Poltergeist movie Mommy – at least before I grabbed my camera and took pictures and had a laugh instead of being stern about it all. Bad form, I know.

Before I present the poltergeists, I should say that the boys have gotten a lot more "stealth" about getting out of bed since those first few nights when they gave themselves away time and again by announcing (loudly) what they were up to.

I should also say that the night I discovered we in fact have poltergeists was an especially exhausting evening. I'd been in and out of the nursery on average every 2 minutes or so putting someone back into their bed, reminding someone that "the toys are sleeping now so we need to leave them alone", and generally picking toddlers off the ceiling.

45 minutes in and I decided – come what may – that I was going to sit down for 5 minutes.

And I DID. 

I heard the pitter-patter of little feet around the 2 minute mark, but otherwise it was relatively quiet. I enjoyed the next 3 minutes of sit-down time imagining they were running off some energy and that this was a good thing because it lessened the odds of Stern Mommy™ making an appearance. 

And had what I walked into not been so completely unexpected and by it's nature both funny and camera worthy, I'm sure it had all the makings of a Stern Mommy™ moment.

The bed-formerly-known-as-Seth's-bed-which-is-now-Nate's-bed** was piled high with every single soft toy that we own. This was the first thing I noticed and I thought to myself, "well, that isn't so bad and this explains why things were relatively quiet".

Until I looked behind me and saw this:

Two completely empty shelves and the rest well picked over.

This was my poltergeist moment, everyone. 

Underneath what appeared to be the easy to tidy up blanket of soft toys was a solid sheet of not-so-soft toys including (but not limited to) dinosaurs and their accoutrements (10 pieces), at least 3 different dismembered stacking toys (32 pieces), a puzzle (5 pieces), assorted toys that did not involve pieces (7), every book in Seth's library™ (10-odd books), and a swath of legos (which I did not stop to count, but would estimate at around 30).

80+ pieces of stuff hidden under a tower of soft toys without making any noise other than the sound of running feet in under 5 minutes?

There's really only one explanation for it and it starts with a "p" and ends with "geists". Good thing I grabbed my camera when I did since I was able to capture the ghostly forms at work (thanks mainly to low level lighting and a long exposure).

In fact, I managed to capture at least 2 apparitions in the nursery that night. 

- L.

*I'm 80/20 currently on referring to the boys' room as "the nursery" vs. their bedroom. I know it's not really a nursery anymore and my babies aren't actually babies anymore. My boys respond to either term, but I know it's time to stop referring to their room as a nursery. Consider the post title my last hurrah.

**My boys have unreservedly switched beds without looking back, which A. means I really did have the sleeping arrangements wrong the entire time and B. I'm at a loss currently on referring to anyone's bed in particular to avoid confusion for anyone who is actually familiar (or was familiar) with the previous bed assignment. I'm a week in and it's still confusing to me.

• • • • • • • 

PS. Although Stern Mommy™ remained at bay that night, I will say that while I was clicking away with my good humor still about me I had yet to discover just how bad the devastation was under the heap of (mostly) soft toys. I imagined she stayed away because she was also suitably impressed at how much havoc my boys managed to wreak in 5 minutes. It's also possible she's seen Poltergeist (the movie) and didn't want to take any chances.

Messy.

A year ago I thought this was a fairly horrifying mess – one that would shock and amaze you. Of course, I look at that now and laugh myself silly.

Before I reveal our current state of debauchery, you should know that:

• This particular mess took less than 40 minutes to create. Coincidentally, this was also the same amount of time it took to prepare dinner. 
• Messes similar to this one occur several times a day and are cleaned up several times a day. 
• Whether I am in the room or not typically has no real bearing on the amount of mess created. 
• We pride ourselves on messy (and it shows). 

That said, this is what a mess in the nursery looks like lately: 

And as much of a seasoned pro as I am at this point, there are more times than not that I look at the carnage and ask myself, "where do I even start?". 

– L.

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

A few posts back I was feeling a bit at the end of my rope over the broken dresser in the nursery – partly because it was a fairly new purchase when we moved this past August, and partly because I'd done some Googling™ and read some not so great reviews regarding IKEA customer service* when it comes to garnering replacement parts – neither of which would have phased me too terribly had it not been for the wake of general destruction here of late.

It's been fairly relentless.

Just when I think I've finally gotten a step ahead of my boys, they let me know every single time that I am in fact two steps behind.

But tonight I am feeling a step ahead again and even though I know it will not last, I am taking advantage of my improved point of view to offer up a retrospective of some of Nate and Seth's most recent hijinks.

This was how the dresser drawer looked after I managed to wrestle it out of the dresser last week:

We have child-safety latches inside all the drawers that were initially installed to prevent pinched fingers, but they have served us well as drawer stops too. Mercifully, my boys haven't actually figured out how to defeat the latches just yet, so springing one must have been a happy accident.

Happy for them, I mean.

It was pretty obvious from surveying the aftermath that the next thing they did was to climb into the lower drawer. And then possibly they jumped around.

I was in the next room tidying up the kitchen and folding some laundry and apart from the typical noises one would expect to hear from the nursery I didn't hear a thing.

Of course, that is typical of most of their shenanigans.

It all started with this a few months back: 

This used to be the box from a box-set of Dr. Seuss books.

OK, that's not entirely true. Technically, it all started with this: 

The infamous play-bucket version of PooBucket™, featured here rather innocently on a lower shelf for easy play access.

Which was used thusly to procure books from the top shelf:

Of course, Seth's first love once again headed for higher ground and just to be on the safe side, I pushed all the books toward the back of the shelf.

I patted myself on the back a little over that one, but my boys sent a message only a few days later.

It looked like this: 

And clearly said, "we might not be able to reach the books, but we can still reach the top shelf quite nicely, silly Mommy". 

Of course, they also left a trail of incriminating evidence, which led to this:

Bye-bye drawers. Your storage capacities have served us well, but you were never intended to be a ladder for my children.

No pats on the back this time though.

This all happened around the time "MAG-ZINES!" appeared on the scene. The magazines appeared to provide a way to satisfy my babies' penchant for tearing paper without damaging their books, which they were suddenly (and unexpectedly) really into.

It worked out great at first.

You know, until it didn't.

I would leave the room with my boys happily tearing up magazines to make lunch or what have you and come back to find them tearing up their books instead.

Things I never thought could be used to stand on were used to stand on, and my boys? Well, they work fast is all I can say.

Now I am the proud owner of a box of torn up books sitting in my living room waiting for repairs which I've had neither the time nor the inclination to repair – although admittedly, it's the inclination that's lagging more than time constraints. In all fairness, fixing things that are only going to get broken again gets discouraging after awhile.

Either way, the top of the dresser is getting pretty cluttered with toys that can only be played with when there is an adult in the room. I have to say, the Fisher Price farm probably surprised me the most (at least at the time). 

All of which brings me to this: 

No one needed a height advantage for our latest shenanigan. And in case you were wondering how much trouble a couple of toddlers get up to with a handful of puzzle pieces... 

... now you know. 

*sigh*

– L.

*IKEA customer service handed over not one, but two new rails without question. I'm not sure if we just got lucky or if no one writes about the easy time they had getting replacement parts at IKEA, but if it's the latter now someone has. No one even asked to see our receipt.

Nakey Time, Party Babies™ & More New Tricks

I've been meaning to write a post about Nakey Time and Party Babies™ for far too long. If only there were more hours in a day – the lament of mommies everywhere, I suppose. The new tricks don't help either because Nate and Seth are learning new things every day and getting into and up to more than you can imagine. But I digress... 

Nakey Time: If you've ever wanted to see two babies go absolutely bananas, feel free to drop by any night after they've had their supper because that's when the clothes come off. It's the most ideal time of day to get nakey since it's (almost) guaranteed the worst thing I'll have to clean up is a little pee.

Even though we've been doing this for months now, it still cracks me up to see how lively they get playing nakey in a crib. The location alternates, so sometimes the party is at "Seth's place" and other nights it's at "Nate's place". Whoever is hosting gets nakey first – it's the rule. At this point it's 50/50 on whether I'll need to change a sheet* when all is said and done, but it's worth risking what amounts to a small amount of effort to see them having so much fun (also I've become an expert at a fast sheet change). They typically average 15-20 minutes of non-stop nakey energy, which gets a big thumbs up from me because it helps get them nice and worn out for bed.

Or at least it used to, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I wrestled with posting photos, but after I took some anyway I realized these aren't too incriminating. So, for the first time at the OP we proudly present...

NAKEY TIME!!!

Classic nakey:

Nakey with interesting poses:

Unfortunately I just missed the high-kick Nate was doing with one of his legs while working on his headstand. 

And lastly, skinny nakey:

No wonder the pediatrician was raising an eyebrow. Won't somebody get this child a sandwich?

•   •   •   •   •

Party Babies™: Party Babies™ is a newer phrase around these parts. Before the parties started everyone would have Nakey Time, followed by a bottle and then it was straight to bed.

Now we party. Or rather, we PARTY!!! 

This is the nursery pre-party:

And this is the nursery post-party:

Well, mostly post-party. I think Seth took some of the party to bed with him. 

Enough said.

It all started after we had barely recovered from our first cold. Maybe the boys were so glad to be feeling good again it gave them renewed energy. Or maybe it was just a coincidence.

*shrug*

Instead of having their bottles and going straight to bed, they have their bottles (or a portion thereof) and then playtime is back on. Everyone is in a good mood, nobody is tired. Well, no babies are tired. Their mommy is another story, of course.

Unfortunately, this meant bedtime started getting later and later. In the pre-party days, Nate and Seth would drift sweetly off to sleep between 7:30 and 8. After the partying started bedtime was more like 8:15.

8:15 – OK, that's doable.

But then 8:15 became 8:30, and 8:30 became 8:45, and 8:45 became 9:00. I think you can see where I'm going with this. I was living for Daylight Savings Time kicking in last weekend since by then the Party Babies™ had managed to shift their bedtime all the way to 9:30. This was not good by the way. Oh sure, they slept in later in the morning but even so it was getting to be a pretty crazy schedule.

And then it was finally the big day. I turned the clocks back an hour and thought, "this is going to fix everything".

Ha!

It took exactly 3 nights for them to get back to business as usual. Last night I finally managed to get everyone to sleep just after 9PM – it's definitely time for Plan B. Don't worry, I have one. And no, I won't be surprised if it doesn't work. Those are some crafty (and determined) babies after all.

And now for the new tricks... 

•   •   •   •   •

New Tricks: At our last appointment with the pediatrician she asked if the boys were sitting unassisted yet and I admitted they were not. Sitting unassisted is a big 9 month milestone. I knew this. I see babies younger than Nate and Seth sitting quietly and playing all the time. Around here, however, no one is interested in sitting because they would both rather be moving.

All. The. Time.

Also, sitting still is for suckers. Just ask Nate and Seth – they will tell you. Or show you as they bulldoze their way over you.

Of course, all bets are off when the clothes are off because for the last week Seth loves to sit during Nakey Time! Maybe it's the confined space since they're in a crib, but whatever works. See?

For the record, Seth still does not sit up when the clothes are back on and Nakey Time has not afforded Nate the same super-powers, but I'm not too worried. In fact, I suspect it will be a long time before Nate has any interest in sitting still because...

Nate is standing!!!

Two nights ago as I was putting Seth to bed (post-party of course), Nate was still roaming about the nursery floor. I was just doing up the zipper on Seth's sleep sack when I looked to my right and saw Nate pull himself up on his knees, place his hands on the white toy box and ta-da! All of a sudden he was standing up. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera in my hands last night, but no worries... there will be plenty of opportunities to get a picture. He already pulled himself up on the Haba™ wagon yesterday morning.

It's the end times. As in the end of any hope that I'll be able to sit down for 5 minutes during waking hours. Nate just learned how to crawl two weeks ago. Now he's cruising the nursery.

I'm in big, big trouble.

And I love it.

- L. 

*If your babies also love Nakey Time, but tend to be a little leaky one of these under the sheets is a must have. It's everything it claims to be and then some.

A Happier Post: All Things 9 Months

I mentioned in our last "Updates On Everything" post that the boys are really getting mobile these days – and that you should stay tuned for imminent future posts (like this one). Well, this is another one.

The days of placing Nate and Seth side by side and taking a few cute pics at my leisure really are long gone – even when I have a helper like I did here and here.

And I was on my own yesterday.

Hence a lot of shots like these where Nate was long gone by the time I had the camera in focus, and Seth was making a hasty departure too*:

I was looking for something purple for our previous post to include at this point when I spied these guys:

These cute keepsake bears were lovingly knitted by their Great-Grandma Edna. I had planned to do a whole post about the bears with Nate and Seth posing with them, but I think you can appreciate that after today I had to give up on that idea.

Still though, I thought maybe that purple scarf would distract them sufficiently to at least keep them in the same spot long enough to snap a pic. And it did. The scarf was distracting enough for exactly one photo: 

Eventually I just let them loose on the nursery figuring they might randomly end up in a shot together. And they did. This is the one shot I got with both of them in it (where they both happen to be looking at the camera that is): 

It didn't last long. Eventually Seth moved into uncharted territory and left Nate behind. 

At least he finally had a good time in the baby Spa Bath. 

•   •   •   •   •

The other part of this post is the results from our 9 month check-up with the pediatrician.

Here are the boys' latest stats:

Nate: 18.5 lbs. (8.35 kg.) | 29.25 in. (74.5 cm.)
Currently, he is in the 90th percentile for height and the 25th percentile for weight.

Seth: 17 lbs. (7.7 kg.) | 28.75 in. (73 cm.)
Currently, he is in the 75th percentile for height and the 10th percentile for weight.

Although their weight has been consistent with their individual growth curves, their height has really shot up (both were at 50% at their 6 month checkup), which means we're going back in 6 weeks for another weigh-in instead of 3 months from now. Our pediatrician seemed mildly concerned since ratio-wise they are underweight for their height.

I'm not concerned, although we'll go anyway. Considering they eat a whole lot, have grown a whole lot (upward at any rate) and move a whole lot, I'm really not worried about my lean guys. Also they come by it honestly – on both sides.

Before I sign off, one more pic of Nate: 

I took this picture last week and while it's not the greatest photo ever, there's something about it that I love. It's very Nate and I wanted to post it before it got lost in the shuffle (as things do when you're chasing two rather mobile babies around all day). Much like his brother, he has a way of looking at the camera that just takes my breath away.

My wee babies are turning into little boys far too quickly.

- L.

* Of course you realize this is going to have a serious impact on their infamous "conversations" if they can't manage to be in the same shot any more often than chance allows. I think it's time to consider the duct tape again. Or super-glue.

The After-Party & What Nay-Nay Did-Did*

In case you were wondering what a Scarecrow and a Tin Man get up to after hours, it looks a lot like business as usual around here:

... except even more stinkin' cute!

After our big day at the park taking pictures of sad babies and/or slightly less sad babies where you couldn't see their costumes very well, I decided to just let them roam in the nursery and try to take a few shots.

Without further ado I present... Tin Man:

I think we can all agree... 

... that Seth definitely has heart. But just in case there was any doubt... 

... here it is front and center (although he usually wears it on his sleeve).

And now... Scarecrow: 

Appropriately floopy, right? Everything a Scarecrow should be. All is well. 

But wait... what's this? 

Looks like he's putting some serious effort into it now. Better head over to our YouTube™ channel if you want to see what Nay-Nay Did-Did next.

- L.

*I meant to include updates on talking in this post, but I forgot (chalk it up to weary mommy brain). In case it's not already obvious, Nate's the talker (as in chatterbox). So far his sound repertoire includes:

• ma-ma
• da-da
• ba-ba 

• woo-woo
• yee-yee
• did-did
• things I'm forgetting (see weary mommy brain)

... and also nay-nay. I'm at least 95% sure this is Nate being self-referential.

His favorite phrase though?

"Did-did-did-did-did-did!"

Picture it with a sudden upward pitch starting on the second "did" and then descending back down to the starting point. I get some of the biggest smiles out of him out of the blue if I mimic his own intonation at him. I have no idea what his meaning is, but it's clearly something good. "Guess what Nay-Nay did-did?" has also been a popular phrase around here for quite some time.

He also says "mom" and "mom-mom". :)

Seth is less of a talker, although I've heard him on random occasion make all of those sounds (minus "yee"). Think of him more as the strong, silent type – except when it comes to things that are stinkeroo (obviously).

When he does have something to say, it tends to run along the lines of, "ma-da-ba-woo-did". So imagine how my heart melted the day he furrowed his brow, looked me in the eye and deliberately said, "Mom... Mom". Just like that, with a little pause in between and everything. It's the only word he says with such purpose and sometimes when he feels like using his super-quiet inside voice he'll just mouth it. Like in our after-party YouTube™ video. I'm pretty sure he really is giving Nate directions to his destination. ;)

Full Of Surprises

I originally grabbed the camera to show off Seth's prowess at opening and closing the drawer on the nursery wardrobe, but as often happens things took a turn for the interesting and I captured more than I bargained for. 

I think it's pretty clear they're up to something, don't you?

The whole thing is on YouTube™. You know what to do.

- L.

PooBucket™: A Love Story (Part II)

– Well, what have we here? Why it's Poobucket™! I thought I never see you again Poobucket™, but you come to visit me. I is touched.

– I not lie. Life behind bars not been easy, Poobucket™. I's in for 5 to 10. That's when mommy say lunch is. Say you'll wait for me Poobucket™.

– Ours is a forbidden love.

•   •   •   •   •

Mommy note: Seth's arms are apparently longer than I thought. The prison stripes are a nice touch though.

- L.

PooBucket™: A Love Story (Part I)

Once upon a time there was (as you already know) a corner of the nursery that looked like this: 

And after a time and certain "circumstances" it came to look like this: 

This is the story of those circumstances, a love story in three parts. This is part one.

Now you all know Seth and you've seen him in action of late. You know that he has bravely ventured into the hallway at least once all by himself and that he staged an unprovoked attack on ShinyGarbagePail™. You also know that he has some serious moves during a diaper change and that simple restraints cannot keep him down for long, especially with PooBucket™ nearby (as she always is when it's time for a fresh diaper).

It is an unrelenting love. A story for the ages. So great is his love of that little red bucket, it had to be secreted away to a safe location high above the nursery floor. 

Like a princess in a tower, no?

ShinyGarbagePail™ has found a safe new home as well in case you were wondering. 

Now there's something even Seth (whose love burns with the fire of a thousand suns) didn't know until very recently about PooBucket™:

PooBucket™ is also a twin. Yes, that's right – there are two PooBuckets™! 

And so it is that PooBucket™ "B" can often be found waiting it's turn outside the nursery door in the hallway while PooBucket™ "A" does it's work in the nursery, or vice versa. They take turns that way.

Now I know you are probably already 5 steps ahead of me and are wondering why I would leave such an obvious temptation in the very same hallway that Seth has found his own way out to at least once. And the answer is... it didn't occur to me that this might be a problem until, one day, it was.

Of course on that day – that fateful day – it so happened that both PooBucket™ "A" and "B" had convened in the hallway and were lined up like a couple of sitting ducks when suddenly Seth appeared. 

The image above is a still from the video I shot just before his relentless pursuit began. I'm pretty sure he is thanking the powers that be for "the bounty he is about to receive".

And me? Well, the buckets were reasonably clean so I decided to let him go to town (don't worry – hands were thoroughly scrubbed afterwards!). 

Of course, if you'd care to witness the entire spectacle on video (and really, why wouldn't you?), head on over to our YouTube™ channel to check it out.

- L.

On The Move: Seth Conquers The Nursery

Once upon a time, there was a corner of the nursery that looked like this:

Due to some "circumstances", the little red bucket – AKA PooBucket™ – had to find a new home (actually it might have been more of a "safe house" situation, but that's a different post for another time).

Unfortunately, this left ShinyGarbagePail™ wide open and I'm pretty sure the poor thing knew it too:

See what I mean?

Of course if you'd like the full scoop, head on over to our YouTube™ channel to witness how it all went down when Seth spied ShinyGarbagePail™ unattended for the first time.

- L.

PS. No worries – ShinyGarbagePail™ has also found a safe location elsewhere and we expect a full recovery. You know... eventually.

Also Not A Toy

– 'Dis a toy alright.

– If I plays with it, then it's a toy. 'Nuff said.

Mommy note: Seth is not one to rest on his laurels while he waits for his first tooth to show up. He's been a most industrious little guy practicing the fine art of creeping (or migrating as I prefer to call it since creeping sounds rather... creepy, I guess). I knew it was only a matter of time until he migrated his way over to the laundry basket since it has long been an object of great interest.

I just never imagined it was the contents and not the basket itself that would ultimately prove to be the source of such intrigue. Of course, in hindsight it makes perfect sense. It's a basket filled with nothing but Random Articles of Clothing. How could any baby resist?

- L.