Big Boy Barrett

 

As we prepare for the arrival of our baby boy in the next few weeks, change is taking place throughout the Nance household.  There are the obvious things, like my growing belly and increasing fatigue.  But there are less obvious changes as well, like preparing Barrett for his new role as a big brother.  Audrey is pretty well set.  She's already had a little brother come into her life once, so she doesn't seem very concerned or even all that interested in the baby.  She likes to tell Barrett about all of the things he can and cannot do with the baby, but other than that, her primary concern in the whole matter is watching my belly grow.  Barrett, on the other hand, is much more curious and excited about the coming baby.  He asks to "see" the baby all of the time (meaning my belly), and frequently brings toys to me that he wants to give to his baby brother.  He also loves to try to make the baby move so he can feel the kicks. 

To help make sure Barrett is as ready as possible for the impending change a baby brings, we are continually driving home the idea that he is a big boy and not a baby anymore.  Audrey likes to make sure Barrett knows that he's still not as big as her, but we are doing what we can to reinforce his big boy lifestyle.  It must be working, because miraculously, he decided a few weeks ago he no longer wanted to wear pull-ups at night.  After a trial period with dry pull-up for a few mornings in a row, he stopped wearing the pull-ups at night and has only had a handful of accidents. 

One of the biggest changes that came as a result of Barrett being a big boy is that he moved out of the nursery into what we call his "big boy room."  It was the guest bedroom, which we fortunately had painted the same color as his "baby room."  His new room is a little bigger, and much more grown up.  Billy built a window seat with drawers for storage beneath the large arch window in the room.  We also ungraded the closet storage and made a few other cosmetic improvements.  Barrett moved into his big boy room two weeks ago, and absolutely loves it.  I think his favorite part is the Cars table that he got for Christmas that we finally had room to put up for him. We are all really pleased with the way the room came together.  Here are some photos to show off Barrett's new space.