Room for two

I know it's now Easter Sunday, but as it often happens, there just wasn't the time and energy left on Friday to output the post that was in my head at the time.
Apart from the traditional reasons for celebrating Good Friday, this past Friday was very good for me for two more reasons. Firstly, I got to take a load off my mind. Through all the craziness of the past month or two, one thing in particular had been persistently nagging at me. We bought a new bed for Tweetie awhile back, must've been late January or early February. The intent was to transition Tweetie to sleeping in a bed well ahead of the arrival of her little brother Sylvester, (hmmm... the nicknames paint an amusing mental picture of the cat in the cage while the bird lounges in the open bed). As sickness and household upheaval ate up the weeks, I saw that transition window getting smaller and smaller.
And there was that basic logistical challenge of rearranging a nursery. As the working mother of a toddler, much of my time at home is taken up with her care and feeding and the things you can do in the next room or shot windows when she's otherwise occupied. The only guaranteed time when my hands are free to do some 'real work' is when she's sleeping. And moving the furniture around when she's in it wouldn't likely do much for either the length or quality of her naps.
This week was spring break, and daycare was closed, so I had arranged to have Tweetie stay on the mainland with my mom and sister for a few days so I could stay at work. And while a little more time than I had anticipated went to some necessary assistance with planning and working on the bathroom, by the time I went to bed Thursday night, I had half the old shelves with their contents disassembled and taken downstairs, the crib tucked in where the shelves had been, and the new bed assembled and in place. By the middle of the day on Friday, I was able to look around and say to myself, "It's ready." All the stuff had a place, hidden corners had been cleaned of spots and spills, and there was now room for two. Even some better space for playing in the middle of the room. I could put theoretically put Tweetie to bed in a place she could get out of on her own and not worry about her being in mortal danger from the things within reach. There'll be a little more sorting and shuffling to come, making room for two sets of clothes and toys, but it's one big stressor removed. A good Friday.
And with that all taken care of, I was free to look forward to the best part of the day - heading off to the mainland to get my Tweetie. The plan had been to do the foot passenger loop on the ferry and just meet my mom on the other side to avoid the cost of taking the car, but we opted to go a little later and stay the night, in order to spend an exciting (add an extra helping of sarcasm dripping off that last word as you read it) Saturday looking for plumbing fixtures so the plumber who's coming this week can install the tub for us.
It was great to see that Tweetie had continued to put on weight while she was away from her Mama, thanks to some grandparental spoiling by her Mor-mor and Auntie. I think I heard something about ice cream before bed every night. Apart from some crankiness that seems to accompany coming home to Mama and her rules, she's healthy and happy.
Of course, the successful rearrangement of the nursery opens the door for the next big thing - the transition to a bed. I'm happy to say that's going fairly well, so far. We got in rather late last night, so she slept in her crib last night. I thought it best to give her a chance to get used to the room a little first. But she played on her bed a bit this morning, and took her first nap in the big bed today. I wrote the first part of this post while waiting for her to wake up this afternoon. And as I wrap up, she's in her bed, though far from asleep. Being her first night, I'm hanging out in the room with her 'til I know she's fully asleep. (It might also have a little to do with the big comfy chair being in her room, and not fitting outside the door. The next stage, tucking her, leaving the room, but watching from just beyond her view, will be done in the much smaller director's chair). She's being fairly compliant with the rule of keeping her head down. I had to help her out with it, laying her down when she sat up or tried to crawl to the side of the bed, in the early going, but she's mostly keeping her head down and just rolling around at this point, and if she pokes her head up, it takes only a word or two to let her know I'm still watching, and she puts her head back down.
So perhaps we'll have another milestone covered soon, and I'll have yet one less thing to worry about, though no doubt I'll find something else.