Archer & Lyla Get Their Own Rooms

Adam and I have been working really hard on getting the babies to sleep better at night.  We have a consistent nighttime routine, which has helped the babies get right to sleep when we put them to bed in their cribs in the nursery.  But they would take turns waking up in the middle of the night.  Sometimes the other baby would sleep through the crying, but more and more often the other baby would wake up from the crying.

Nap times were getting trickier, too.  During the day, I had been putting the babies in Rock 'N Plays downstairs in the living room and family room.  I liked to keep an eye on them during the day when they were little and it was easier to keep them in the main living areas.  But they are getting bigger and they won't fit in those Rock 'N Plays forever.  So I knew I needed to work on transitioning them to their cribs for nap times.

Lyla caught on right away.  She has always been the better sleeper.  I think since she sucks her thumb, she's better at self-soothing than Archer.  It only took her a day or two to be comfortable with sleeping in her crib for her naps.  Archer, on the other hand, did not care for naps in his crib.  He just cried and cried.  I would go into the nursery to soothe him, he would calm down, I would leave and then he would cry again.  This process would greatly disturb Lyla's naps.

So, we decided to move Archer to one of the guest rooms we have down the hall from our room and the nursery.  We reasoned that since Lyla was the most settled with her naps and nighttime sleeping, it made the most since to keep her in the same room.  So we booted Archer down the hall to his own room.  It is still close to our room and I can hear him cry even without the monitor.

We set to work clearing out the room.  We had the Salvation Army pick up the mattress, bed frame and box springs.  We put some of the items we might be able to reuse in the future in the basement.  And then we moved in Archer's crib.  We also hung his mobile and his name to make it feel as close as possible to his old room. 

Luckily the wall color is pretty neutral.  It's a light blue, gray color that goes well with Archer's gray crib.  It's not the color I would have picked for his room, but it will do for now.  I figure we can repaint when he's old enough to have a say in the matter.  

I wanted to make it feel a bit more homey and put-together for Archer, so we added a few other items.  I added some artwork from the nursery to the room, along with a chair we had hanging out in the basement.  

Finding some cute blackout curtains were a must and Target had the perfect boyish striped ones.  I also found this pretty sweet arrow curtain rod.  I was pretty excited to find it since our son's name is Archer.  An arrow for our Archer.  Get it?  Isn't it clever! 

For now the only other furniture in the room is a table we used as a desk in the guest bedroom.  It serves as a surface for the monitor and sound machine.  Eventually, Adam plans to build a small bookcase for that part of the room.  

It has taken awhile for Archer to get used to his new digs.  He is to the point that he sleeps for the first part of the night in his room, from his 6pm bedtime to about 1am for his bottle.  I try to put him back in his crib after his bottle, but he just cries.  So I give in and just put him in a Rock 'N Play in our room.  I think he just misses his momma.  I should probably be more diligent about getting him to sleep in his crib all night, but he is still a baby.  Quite frankly, it's just not a battle I wish to fight at 2 in the morning.  But he'll get there (and so will I).  It will just take us baby steps to get there.

He's also getting better about taking naps in his room.  It's still a process to get him asleep and usually there are a few tears.  I try to let him and Lyla play in his room during the day so he gets more used to it and sees it as a fun place to be.  He does enjoy playing in his room.  Look at that smiling boy and his TWO teeth!    

Lyla stayed in the nursery, but we did change it up just a bit for her.  We moved the changing table to the other wall where Archer's crib was located.  This helped open up the entrance to the room a bit.    

We kept her crib where it was since she's done so well sleeping.  We didn't want to rock the boat.  

We left the corner with the chair the same, so we can still sit in the chair and read books together.  Archer joins us too.  

I added a few more girly pieces to her gallery wall that used to hang in the guest bedroom.  And both kids' clothes are still together in the closet.  I figured it would be simpler to put away laundry if it was all in one place.  Eventually we'll switch over Archer's clothes to his room, but for now this works.   

Lyla continues to be happy in her room.  She likes to play on the floor and put all kinds of toys into her mouth.    

Overall, I think this was a good transition.  Eventually, we'd have to move the kids into their own bedrooms down the line.  It seemed like a good time to separate them before they grow too attached to having a roommate.  It's also been nice to have another place to play.  The babies both enjoy changing their environments up when they get bored.  Look at Miss Lyla!  She can almost sit up all by herself!    

Looking to the future, Adam and I would like to build a play kitchen for one of their rooms, along with a table and chairs.  I also see a dress up area with a mirror in their future.  A play work bench would be fun, too.  And definitely a rug with roads for them to play with cars on.  For now the open floor space is perfect for all their rolling around.  It will be fun to see how their rooms grow as Lyla and Archer continue to grow.