Big Boy Room!

Rowan's door. The elephant has his name on it,
and was a present tag from a relative.
The doorknob has a key to
Children's Fairyland on it.

One of the big changes for us as a family upon moving to the "new house" here in Columbus is that Rowan now has his own room and his own "big boy bed". I was worried that this transition would be hard on him, but he has taken it all in stride!

We have been huge advocates of co-sleeping and sharing the family bed since bringing Rowan home over two years ago. It helps with breastfeeding, everyone gets better sleep, and fosters a secure attachment with your child. I can't recommend it enough. Rowan loves to sleep with us- which is why I was worried that he would hate being in his own room. I am glad to say that I needn't have worried.

He is adorable, no?

We have never had a bed big enough to for all three of us and our sleeping styles, however. Rowan is a cuddler and will wedge himself against you or climb on top of you in his sleep. His father and I are "don't touch me or get on my side of the bed" type sleepers. It was our commitment to attachment parenting that kept us co-sleeping- and I think it met Rowan's needs up until now.

Asleep for a nap. (Yes yes, I know.
No bottles in bed.)

When we stayed with relatives in Appalachia, we had a full sized futon and a twin sized bed (in the same room) to sleep upon for all three of us, which meant one parent sleeping with Rowan and the other sleeping alone in the twin. The twin was meant for Rowan- a gift from his Nana when she moved into the nursing home. He immediately took to it and wanted to sleep in it- by himself.

As we prepared to move to the new house, I kept talking up the fact that Rowan was going to get his own room and his own "big boy bed". I showed him the bed and told him that it would be his. He seemed excited. (I also promised him a fish, which I made good on- he feeds it every morning and named it "Nahmahnah" after the Muppet song "Mahnah mahnah" which he loves to watch on You Tube.) He also saw some of the elements that would be going into his room- like the pegboard for his coats that I painted and glued animals onto, and the decals for the walls, and the mon lamp that my sister bought him for Christmas.

I plan on painting the top of
this table with chalkboard paint.

I worked very hard after moving in to make Rowan's room one of the first rooms that was finished (along with the kitchen, so we could eat). I wanted him to be happy and safe in there, right from the start. It would not do for him to be resentful of a place that he would end up sepnding so much time in. I wanted it to be his sanctuary and fun place.

Remarkably, he has been sleeping in his bed, all on his own since moving here, with very few issues. He still wakes sometimes in the night and we still go in and comfort him back to sleep. We haven't quite weaned him off of milk bottles at bedtime and nap time, although he is drinking less and less and I think he is weaning himself. we also often just give him water instead of milk.

Moon lamp, Doctors Without Borders
map, and LOTS of books!

He loves his room and is getting used to the idea of playing in it alone upstairs while mama is downstairs (most, but not all, of his toys are in his room- he has a small toybox downstairs) and getting used to the idea of settling down to nap without mama having to be there until he falls asleep. I tell him to nap, and he falls asleep on his own now. He's getting to be such a big boy!

He never fussed over having to sleep alone, which tells me that he was ready for such a change. He loves how I have decorated the room (I got vinyl wall decals off of Etsy of animals and his name and monogram) and has named the animals.

I made his cute clothes peg board and he loves it.

The two birds are both named Pete, strangely enough.
Big Pete and Little Pete. No, he has never seen
that Nickelodeon show, either. This came straight
from his strange little brain.

He can name almost every letter on his floor now!

This room will be his for quite some time. We do not intend to move from here unless we buy a house- as this place meets most of our needs and we really like it. It is a room that can grow with him, as it is large for a kid's room and is pretty adaptable.

He will grow up here, and I think we are both happy with that.