My Big Boy Bed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Following along with the theme of my last posting, there has been a bit more construction here in the past month or so...I am speaking, of course, of the Grand Transition! My move from my crib of over three years into a brand new big boy bed! It was a big deal around here! Mom and Dad decided to let me take the lead on this, and waited until I started talking about making the move before they did it, and sure enough, I expressed an interest, and they made it happen!

Gramma Debbie chipped in and bought me my bed, which I picked out all by myself! We went out to IKEA, and I looked at all the options, and picked the one I found to be the most complimentary to our apartment, in addition to matching my personality...we shopped for all the parts, and I helped!

Well, sort of...

I even helped them put it in the car, which was loads of fun! (I also climbed around a bit when the mattress formed a little bunker in the back seat...which was more fun!)

Once we got home, we had to store the bed for a few days...once it was time to build, I helped Dad carry the boxes from the living room to my bedroom...

I really enjoy helping out so much! The below picture shows the slats that build the foundation under the mattress...we had actually forgotten this piece initially, which necessitated a return to the store...it was all good though, since it meant we got to eat lunch there again!

Of course, no construction job is complete without my trusty toolbox!

Dad and I compared hammers, and once we did "Cheers", we were ready to go!

 He gave me the instructions (Which I refer to as "the map") and let me get started on the basic framing...
 

 He and I had some tight maneuvering to pull off, since the room wasn't really made for two beds, but we did it!

 Once the bed started coming together, it was really exciting to see it starting to look like the finished product I saw in the store!!

 Hm...now where is my wrench? Ah! On the floor next to the flashlight...Obviously!  Where else would it be!?

 I worked on the headboard, which features a dog and cat looking at each other...I like animals, and I also like the idea of two beings from different backgrounds getting together, if only on my head board....I'm worldly that way.

 I made sure the dog wasn't going anywhere...he is such a pretty blue, that it would simply be a shame to not have him around...

 Dad let me put the little metal pieces that held the corners together in, and hold them down while he tightened them. Even though building the bed took about twice as long with me helping, Dad is always great about letting me take part!

 I hammered them in afterwards, just to make sure they were nice and stable...I was gonna be sleeping here, after all! Didn't want to take any chances! Plus, I hoped that I would have some grownups sitting on the edge of the bed telling me stories, so I wanted to make sure it was safe and inviting all around!

 One last double check, and I think we might be ready for the slats and the mattress!!

 Ahhhh....celebrating a hard day's work with a little rest (And testing out the bed, of course...)

 Sooooo cozy...I love it!

 Then came the part I wasn't quite ready for...I told Daddy that was excited to get to have two beds in my room now...but he broke the news that we were taking apart the crib because I didn't need it anymore. It was a bittersweet moment: I was happy to be growing up and moving on to my big boy bed, but at the same time, it's difficult because the crib was such a big part of my life...I was sad, but took one last moment to do something I never could when the crib was fully assembled: Get in and out of there of my own free will.

In the weeks since my new bed was made, I have utilized my new found ability to  get out of bed whenever I want and visit Mom and Dad early in the morning...usually long before they are ready to get up. :-)

My New Toy Storage!

In getting caught up, I figured I'd put out a post on some fine construction work that Dad and I have been up to in the past month or so....in an effort to get my room looking a bit more presentable (and to have a bit more room to play in) Mom and Dad bought me a very cool storage unit from IKEA!

Of course, I helped Dad put it together...

I always get very excited at any opportunity to help Dad build or fix stuff, so I immediately grabbed my tool box, and started hammering away at the support pegs....then I grabbed my screw driver and helped to get the screws in place for the lower supports...

They're a bit tricky, so it took a little work, but Dad helped me with the final few turns of the screws by teaching me how to use the tiny allen wrench that they include in the box...for the record, since we have several pieces of IKEA furniture, we can now open an allen wrench store. Seriously...we have a lot of allen wrenches.

Luckily I am the perfect size to help Dad get into a bunch of places that he is simply too large to get into (Sorry Dad...it's not a crack at your weight, it's just a simple matter of size versus the space you want that size to fit into)

I climbed in and made sure all the shelving slots were level...

And voila! We slid the bins into their rightful spots, and things suddenly became a lot more organized, easier to find, and much neater in my room! It also allowed for a bit more storage space for my huge collection of stuffed animals!

Dad went on the computer and printed out some cool labels so we would know where stuff would go when we put it away after a solid day of playing...he also included pictures for those of us that aren't quite reading yet (Namely me) so that it would be easy for me to find my stuff, and to put it away!

I think it came out pretty well...don't you!?

Gramma Mindy & The Zoo!

Yikes! Where have I been for the last month!?!? Well....my official transcription engineer (My Dad) has been swamped at work and with a show he just finished last weekend, so he wasn't available for blog-writing duties....that's pretty much it! Let's continue where we left off, shall we? And then we'll dive into more recent fare!

For Gramma Mindy's second day during her last visit, we chose to visit one of our favorite places....The National Zoo!

As always, it was fun being back in the old neighborhood, and while a bit chillier, the weather continued to be nice. We walked around the zoo for awhile and got to see a lot of cool stuff, as always!

The zebras were out that day, and we got to watch them walk around for awhile...

Gramma Mindy showed me some of the informational panels that you could slide out on this little Panda thing....I just liked that you could pull out the panels, and let them slide shut. It was really cool.

Near the actual red pandas, I found this statue of a red panda, and became the best of friends with it IMMEDIATELY.

I pretended to get bitten by the statue, and then proceeded to have everyone in our little group pretend to get bitten (and then be medically assisted by me, of course...) Here is Mom getting ready to get bitten....

 And here is me mending her poor wounded finger....

 Next up was Gramma Mindy....he got her pretty good...

 But not to worry! I was right there to fix her up, good as new!

 Dad was spared by the red panda....for now!
 I was extremely sad when it was time to leave my new statue friend...I didn't know how I could possibly cope with having to leave and let other people take pictures with the statue...

 An acceptable substitute was found....in the actual red pandas that were ten feet away from the statue.

 As is typical,  we got to see the pandas at the zoo, but since it wasn't all that crowded, we got a good glimpse of them, and got to see them eating and playing, which is always nice!

 As it grew later (and I subsequently grew hungrier) I had a bit of a cranky moment, and went off to be by myself for a little while...I found a nice little place to hide behind the panda display, and after a bit of sulking, managed to come out and finish off the day...

We even managed to sneak in a little "hide and seek" time with Gramma Mindy...I am only slightly better at hiding than Gramma Mindy.....can you find us in the below picture?

Gramma Mindy & The Air & Space Museum!

A few weeks ago, we were graced by the presence of Gramma Mindy! We had an action-packed weekend, since there was actually no one that was sick, and we had no actual plans...so we made it a point to get out there into the world and DO SOME STUFF! First up...my first trip to the Air & Space Museum! This is a huge museum devoted to showing off a lot of stuff from the history of (Duh) Air and Space travel. Everything from old advertisements of airlines, to the actual planes and space rockets themselves!

Being in the main hall with all the huge air and space vehicles was overwhelming!

Even going to the upper level so that we could look down at them was still a crazy thing to behold!

They were such gorgeous planes and things, but SOOO big! I was even a little nervous about how safe it was to be running around beneath these things....I mean, just how strong are those wires that are holding them up, anyway?

No matter...any hesitation melted away as I continued my quest to join the Guinness Book of World Records ranks as "Longest Period of time Running from everywhere to everywhere" by visiting some of the aircraft on display. You actually got to go inside some of the old planes.

Gramma Mindy showed me the old pilots uniform, here encased behind plastic so we couldn't get our hands on it...I guess they didn't trust us to "look but don't touch"

Mom told me all about some of the planes that were hanging around us...she's a pretty smart lady.

Dad showed me some cool old lunchboxes (I think we're supposed to call them "retro" to be nice to the older generations) he likes lunchboxes.

Dad found me this pretty cool flight simulator. It had three different types of steering controls set up for three types of planes: The super old school Wright Brothers type of plane, then an older but more modernized than the Brothers plane, and finally a modern completely electronic plane. As you moved the control levers, you got to look up into the transparent case above to watch how your control movements affected the simulated parts of an airplane. It wasn't just some computer simulation, you actually got to see the moving parts. It was really cool.

There was a display about what kinds of things people take in their luggage...I quickly identified with a small suitcase that was theoretically packed by a child....can you think of any reason why?

We found one plane that we got to go up and into, and then back out and around...I did this about 427 times...Mom and Gramma Mindy followed me for a bunch of them, and then they used the opportunity to rest, while Dad kept an eye on me...

Later on, after exploring the museum for some time, it came time to eat lunch, and so we all took a break to grab some food from the McDonald's in the museum...much like the highway rest areas we frequent on trips to visit my family in Connecticut, the museum delights in giving you the same food for double the price...HUZZAH!

Regardless, we don't do McDonald's all that often anyway, so it was a nice treat. I had some chicken nuggets, apple slices, milk and fries. I also looked pretty cool doing it...

Dad was kind enough to share some (OK...most) of his shake with me...it was capital D-lecious!

So far the weather had held up, and we had a lovely day at the Museum...we saw so much stuff (Including lots more airplanes, and some film reels highlighting the use of airplanes in old movies) and it was a very full day!