Joyful and triumphant!

The adults in the Libutti house are truly joyful and triumphant as Jenna transitioned out of our bed and into her crib this weekend! She has been sleeping with us for about a year and Mommy just couldn't take it anymore as Jenna likes to nurse all night long. We have been preparing ourselves for a few months and prepping Jenna for a week, telling her that she is now a big girl and it is time to sleep in her room like Michaela sleeps in her own room. Every time we told Jenna, she would gives us her simple, honest response: "No." But Friday it was time and Jenna did great. She cried for about half an hour but Dan did a wonderful job of calming her down and she ended up sleeping until 10am the next morning. I, of course, was convinced she was dead in the crib. The next night was about the same- she cried for about half an hour but then settled down and slept until 7:30am. She has been pretty cranky during the day so I don't think she is particularly pleased with the situation, but she will get used to it. It was easier for me that she is almost two because I feel like she understands that we are just in the next room and haven't abandoned her. Our next project is to start moving up the bedtimes of both girls so Dan and I can have a little bit of alone time before we fall asleep at the end of the day.
Funny Michaela story of the week: Michaela came into the bathroom while I was taking a shower because she was desperate to tell me that her finger hurt (even though I was home all day with her, she had to tell/show me this in the 10 minutes I have to myself). She sticks her hand into the shower and says,"Mommy, my hand really hurts!!" and I, being a semi-neurotic mom, immediately think she has some type of bone cancer. (Actually, anytime Michaela complains of pain that is not immediately visible like a cut or scrape or bruise, I always assume it's bone cancer. I think it's because I went to high school with a boy who developed bone cancer in early adulthood and had to have his hand and half his forearm taken off and I was particularly horrified to hear about it.) Anyway, I went on to ask Michaela, "Did you bang it? or twist it? Do you remember hurting it?" and as she's walking away, feeling better that she had transferred the anxiety of a hurting hand to Mommy, she replied with wonderment in her voice, "No, it just hurts when I bite on it..." Well, here's a clever idea: Stop biting your hand and it will stop hurting! I was able to control my sarcasm enough not to say that to her, but I did end up laughing pretty hard for the rest of my shower.
Kids... you love them sooo much AND you want to wring their little necks.