An Escape Artist, a Climber & a Crib Tent

Even though Luke is only 2 years old, I have already seen differences between him and the girls.
Luke is ALL boy.
Even though we have dolls, barbies, etc all around our house he ignores them and goes straight for the balls, trucks, cars & trains.
He is also a Climber.
A few weeks ago, Luke and I were playing, I had to go to the bathroom and when I went back to his room, he had dragged his PBK Everyday chair to his dresser, turned it upside down and used it as a ladder so that he could open the top drawer of his dresser.

So, let this be a Public Service Announcement to remind you that if you have kids in your house, make sure you bolt your heavy furniture to the wall. 
All of our dressers  & bookshelves at our house are anchored to the wall, it is pretty simple to do and only costs a couple dollars. Kevin secured all our furniture about 4 years ago because
1) When Claire was 2.5 she tried to climb on Kate's dresser and it fell over. Luckily her dresser is short and it didn't land on her, but it could have been BAD.
and 2) We live in Earthquake country, we need things secured to the wall.

 So, Luke is a climber.  He climbs on the counters, he climbs on tables, he climbs everywhere.
The other day when I was making dinner, I heard Luke go into the garage and when I went to get him, he had climbed onto Claire's bike & was trying to "ride" it.

Also, he doesn't like wearing pants and is in a stage where he takes off his clothes, pajamas, his diaper...he just wants to be nakey.

He is crazy.

I knew it was inevitable that he would start climbing out of his crib because the last few times he has been in a pack n play he has climbed out of it.
When we were in Tahoe a few weeks ago, he climbed out of it everytime we put him down for his nap or for bedtime. He would run upstairs with his jammies off and he was so proud he climbed out.

We were hoping it was just a pack n play thing, but when we got home from Tahoe, that night he kept climbing out of his crib. It was a loooooong night but finally he fell asleep and stayed in his crib.

The next day for naptime was a disaster. He wouldn't stay in his crib. The 10th time I went to put him back in his crib, I opened his door to find this:

He had taken things OFF his walls!!!!!
He had gone into Claire's room and gotten her piggy bank and he was using his PBK everyday chair as a ladder and was trying to get his piggy bank off his tall dresser.
Seriously, he is crazy.

I gave up on having him nap in his crib, so I put him in his car seat and we drove around until he fell asleep....I seriously felt like I had a newborn again because for the past few days he wouldn't sleep at night and wouldn't nap.  It was exhausting.
I didn't know what to do....we weren't ready for him to be in a big boy bed (hello....see the above photo....do you think he can be left alone at night with access to everything in his room?
I don't think so!
I know a lot of people put their 2 year olds in toddler beds or twin beds, but we just aren't ready to do that with Luke....so we stooped to a low level......we borrowed a crib tent from some of our friends.

Yes, that's right. 

A crib tent (Feel free to judge) 

We felt like this was the safest option for Luke at this time until he stops his climbing phase (do boys ever grow out of their climbing phase?)

Plus, Luke can now unlock the front door, so it's just not safe for him to be able to roam free.

So, here it is in all it's glory. 

The crib tent.

I have no shame.

Something I never thought I would have to use.

Kate was in her crib until she was 2 years 10 months old...she never tried to climb out.

Claire was in her crib until 2 years 8 months old, she only climbed out once (and that week we put her in her big girl bed)

So, for now Luke is still in his crib, with the crib tent keeping him safe inside. 

And, I have to put his pajamas zipped on backwards because that way he can't take them off.

I am sick of cleaning up pee/poo in his crib from when he takes off his jammies and diapers. Ugh.

 Poor Luke.

I hope the backwards pajamas and crib tent won't cause him to have too much therapy when he is older. Ha!

Anyone else out there have (or had) toddlers that were climbers, pajama strippers or escape artists?

Crib Tenters Unite!

Luke's Train Party {Choo Choo Luke is TWO!}

Luke's 2nd Birthday Party was on Saturday.

I knew that I wanted to throw him a train party.

First, I can't resist a cute rhyming slogan like  "Choo Choo Luke is Two"

Secondly, Luke loves trains. Loves them. He loves Chuggington, he loves playing with trains & he loves saying "choo choo" 

His actual birthday was the 9th, but our families were out of town, so we had his party this past weekend. On his actual birthday we took him to ride the steam trains. It was a blast, he loved it.

Here is the invite that I made for his party:

{Invite will be available in my Etsy Shop when I re-open for Fall}

Since Luke is only 2 & doesn't have that many friends,  I promised Kevin that I would keep his party small, so his party was just family...but that was still almost 30 people since everyone is local....Both sets of grandparents, Aunts, Uncles & Cousins. And, we also invited a family that we are best friends with and they are basically like family.

This was a fun party to decorate for. I have had lots of ideas swirling in my head for the past few months.

Decorations:

As you walked up to our house, I had a "train track" that I made out of black electrical tape.

It was time consuming to make, but I loved how it turned out :)

I made a sign on our porch that said "The Larson Station"

I also made 2 signs for my flower pots, instead of putting RR for the Railroad sign, I put LL for Luke Larson

And, instead of Railroad Crossing, I put 2 year old crossing.

 The front entrance:

For appetizers, I had Veggies & Hummus and I made a train out of the containers:

I had one of these old school Fisher Price Trains as a kid, loved it! I got one on ebay a few months ago for Luke & it worked out perfectly for my Veggie Train :)

I added black wheels with construction paper to the containers.

I loved how it turned out!

 Other appetizers I had were Onion Dip:

And Corn Dip {Recipe HERE}:

The appetizers set up on our island:

I hung up some paper lanterns:

 I also made an "All Aboard sign:

I loved using red, blue, yellow & lime green for his party, such a fun color combo!

For drinks, I set up the "Fueling Station" outside:

 Chugga Chugga....get it?

 The party started at 4:00, so we served dinner. Here was the menu:

 I set up the dinner food where I had the appetizers:

 

My tortelini salad is one of my go-to's for parties:

 {Recipe HERE}

Yum!

And, of course....I always have a Dessert/Sweets Table at my Parties!

 Close up of this cute banner I bought {HERE}

I love Dessert Tables!

Close up's of what was on the table:

 Again, I had LL instead of RR.

 I made the cupcake toppers as well.

A dessert table always needs some candy!

 We love licorice!

And, sugar cookies:

 If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that my mother in law makes amazing cakes for my kids birthdays.

 The train one might be one of my favorites! She made the cake look like the train I used for the invites/cupcake toppers/food labels. She is amazing!

Her cakes not only look good, they are also delicious!

For the favors, I set up "Baggage Claim" .  

The red "L" is from Luke's bedroom and the clock (like Grand Central Station) is from my Family Room.

 I made a bunting out of train conductor hats (Oriental Trading) and I had leftover bandanas from Claire's Cowgirl Party.

Luke wouldn't wear a bandana or hat, he kept ripping them off, but look how cute my nephew looks:

I had a variety of favors at the Baggage Claim. A bandana & hat for all the kids and I also had wooden train whistles.

Note to self: Whistles are annoying. Never again. LOL!

For the 3 kids under the age of 5, I had these books for them to take home:

For the older kids & adults, I had train cookies:

 I get all my favor cookies made from a local bakery.

Close up of the cookies:

  I made the tags....."Thank Choo for celebrating Luke"

  I also bought a nice version of "The Little Engine that Could" and had the guests sign it:

 Luke loves books, especially Choo Choo books.

I love that we have a keepsake from his party!

I was happy with how the Baggage Claim turned out. It was a last minute idea.

  Party Activities:

 Since Luke has a summer birthday, I am pretty sure most of his parties will include swimming. 

Gotta love a Train themed swim party :)

Final event of the party....Cake Time!

 I used the vintage high chair that I spray painted red for his One year old Nautical Party last year.

{Banner made by my friend Heather}

 Close up of his shirt:

 

  Me & the Birthday Boy! {Please excuse my top bun & no makeup. It was a swim party after all!}

 Happy 2nd Birthday Luke!

I hope you had as much fun at your party as I did!

Can't believe you are TWO!