Big Boy Bed

  Anyone who has seen Zach in person knows he's tall. I always get the comment "he's so big" with the childhood obesity epidemic I make a point of saying "he's well proportioned 'tall' is a better word". He's always been well proportioned, determined by his doctors. It's ironic really, I formula fed from the beginning and a lot of studies say that will cause obesity because with formula they tend to finish the bottle. Zach never had that problem. We learned early what his sign was for "I'm done" verses "I need a break" and he only finished a bottle if he needed it, but not always. His growth was fast. born at 7lbs 2oz, he was 16lbs at his 3 month appointment. But he was growing in length a lot and that weight partially resembled all the time he spent in play gyms kicking around. I always wanted him to be active so as a little baby not only did we take him outside and walk with him a lot, but we had 3 play gyms. One for the living room, one for the kitchen and one for our room as well as a bouncy seat. He loved activity (as he does now). All that leads to growth. He was only in 6-9 month clothing for 6 weeks, needing 12 month clothing at 7 months old, but again, he was well proportioned. His doctor said at his 6 month appointment that he's the size of the average 1 year old. 10 months was the average age guess for him at that time. This lead to quickly growing out of his crib.




Bouncy Seat. That traveled from room to room as needed Fischer Price Precious planet. We get their high chair, booster seat (which he still uses) bath tub and a lot of other things.



Living room. This was his favorite and the only one he still used at 6 months. It's the prescious planet one by Fischer Price and I still recommend this one



Our Bedroom/ near the kitchen table for dinner time it was the baby einstin Aquarium one. He liked it.



This was in the kitchen later (picture taken when it was in the living room before we got the precious planet. We started with 2 but I feel in love with the precious planet one so I got that too). He liked this but it was his least favorite. Fischer Price Aquarium one

We had a drop side crib and because it was well assembled (by Josh's Dad and Josh (sorta)) we never had a problem with it and that crib was never recalled. Most of those recalls were from things that could happen in regular lifetime cribs too. Anyway, we were dressing him for date night one night when he was 18 months old (December 2010) and he flipped over the railing and landed on his feet! He was shaken but fine and we were standing right in front of him. So the next day we put his crib mattress on the floor and put the crib in the garage (with the help of his now 22 year old cousin's friend also named Josh).



2 months 5 Days Old

He was great with the mattress on the floor but as I mentioned, grows quickly, and come April 2011 (22 months old) he was falling off because he was getting too big for it. Grandma and Pop (my parent's) decided to make a twin sized mattress his early birthday gift (Birthday is June 5th) and he was incredibly excited!!!!! When choosing it I kept in mind that this will be the mattress he sleeps on the night before taking the SATs so it needed to work for a lot of years and be adjustible for his changes. I do that with all of his things except certain toys (and even then we got soccor cones for him to use now that he can use for many years to come). His umbrella is a smalll totes adult umbrella, his backpack is basic (but junior sized so we'll get the bigger LL Bean one when he startes 1st grade), If if could last, we pick it to last and that was important about this mattress. It's medium so firm enough for a little guy but soft enough for a teenager (too soft and you can't get them up anyway). We did that with the sheet sets. I had two comforters (one lightweight the other heavy) that are sports themed and got solid color sheets to match (burgundy, navy, and light blue). We also got a spare pillow so when he's older he'll have two (and the shams to match).



Dec 26, 2010 at 18 months old. I don't have a picture of the current mattress on the floor but this is the crib mattress on the floor. It looked a lot a like just bigger.

He was ready for it in January but was still adjusting to preschool so we waited for him to be more comfortable there. But we started talking about the bed frame. He's using mine, the one I used the night before I got married and for many years before. It has 6 drawers in the bottom and no foot guard. My brother had a bed just like it and long after he grew out of it he slept there anyway because his feet had space. I thought that would be important for Zach because of his growth. My brother and father are tall just like ALL of Josh's family (except the SIL that married into it in California). He's gonna be a big boy. The California brother is like 7 feet tall or something around there!!! We started talking to Zach about how he was getting Mommy's bed frame and he got really excited. The first full week of February, my dad hired movers and it was moved while he was in school. He came home to find not only the big bed but that we rearranged his room to make playing easier!!! He LOVES it!!!!! He's 32lbs and 3 feet tall now. When I measure myself on fridays he wants a turn so that's updated. He's clearly going through a growth spirt (and a bunch of bananas to go along with it). It's great to see him crawl into bed and smile at us.

Feb, 19, 2012 age 2 1/2

He'll be 3 in June but the spring session at the Y beings this week. Me being me I look to when the 3 year old classes are held and what to sign him up for since for the May session we'll put him in one. Since 3 year olds are in preschool a lot of them are held in the afternoon. As the weather gets nicer too we want him to be able to get out and about and enjoy it. So we moved his naptime from 1:30pm to 3:00pm starting yesterday, he didn't get sleepy until then and got to enjoy a wonderful afternoon at the park. He used to sleep sometimes 3 - 3 1/2 hours but then wake up before 7. With this new schedule, he'll be getting his sleep in the mornings (we tested that part out before changing the time). When he slept until 4, we couldn't really do things in the afternoon. Before preschool we did those things in the morning but I want him to still be able to do those things, and take 1:15 classes at the Y. It'll be an adjustment. I'm used to sleeping when he sleeps so until my body is used to it that transition time will be a killer! Hopefully, with him sleeping later in the morning, that will be the buffer I need to make it until 3. Snack has been moved from 3 to 2:45 for me (Zach rarely in hungry in the afternoons just thirsty). Come the summer, this means we can enjoy the town pool longer. And all that sleep he gets in his big boy bed, something he loves!!!!!

Near naptime the day after the super bowl (46 Giants beat the Patriots, again) It's Bradshaw, the dude who got the winning touchdown. Zach wore it for the entire game and the next day it's all he wanted to wear inside. He'll be naping in his big boy bed shortly after this pciture was taken. It's Daddy's Jersey. I wore the Manning like I did while watching Super Bowl 42 and Josh was Brandon Jacobs (or Justin Tuck I can't remember which). Zach is our little good luck charm. The October after he was born the Yankees won the world series. Connection: when I was induced I joked to the doctor and Josh "I bet he's here in time for the Yankee game" It was against the rays (a rain out we won the make-up) But he was born at 5:18pm the game's scheduled start was 7:00pm. He made up for it with the world series though. He really is getting to be so big!!!!!