Chase just completed his first week of sleeping in the "big boy bed". Faithful readers of this most wonderful blog may remember that we purchased his bed shortly before the babies arrived. We had a few problems with the transition. It didn't take long before he turned the process of going to bed into a game. We would put him in his bed and after a few minutes he would wander out and poke his head around the corner. The rule is that he would get three warnings, after which he had to sleep in his crib. The problem is that he ended up in the crib pretty much every night, but he had to play the three strikes game first. The nights that he stayed in bed he would typically get up very early in the morning and with nothing to restrain him he would come wake us up or roam around the house unhindered. He would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and be walking around the house or trying to climb into bed with us. Once the babies arrived he lost all interest in the bed and it just sat there collecting lack of use.

Last Saturday (2/9) we took extreme measures. I disassembled the crib and took it out of his room completely. We put a safety gate in his doorway so that he couldn't escape. The plan was to lock him in the room and let him work it out on his own. We expected screaming, crying and escape attempts. None of this happened. The first night in bed he went right to sleep and slept all night. It's now been eight nights in a row and the transition appears to be complete. I'm wondering why we didn't try this sooner.

In related news, Jaxon sleeps through the night and Mason doesn't even come close. We just stopped waking Jaxon up to feed him one night and he did fine. He's been good ever since. Mason, on the other hand, is still a terror. What's the deal?

Chase caught yet another cold and the other two will inevitably get sick, as well. Mason is acting especially sad so he may have it already.

Monday I went in for my regular blood donation. I usually use this web page page to remember when I donate so that I know when I'm eligible again, but for some reason I haven't done that since 2006. This donation wasn't nearly as eventful as the last one I blogged about. My current goal is to hit the 5-gallon mark, which I've got to be pretty close to by now...