We've been busy updating the kids' rooms over the past few days.
Over Christmas, I asked Jon to make Otto a simple little desk for his LEGO projects.
Only thing was, we noticed that it wasn't quite big enough for all his stuff. And more often than not, Bel drags a stool into his room and sits right next to him, watching and playing along.
He needed a bigger table.
And it's been past time for Bel to have a big girl bed, but we hadn't done it yet because it required organizing. And weeding of toys and clothes. And redoing her closet and swapping dressers. She has a lot of stuff for someone so small -- kind of an intimidating prospect. Every time I turn around there seems to be a whole new mountain of outgrown clothes to bag up, new books to squeeze onto the shelf, and dolls that need a place to sleep. Eeek!
But Sunday was gray and snowy - not nice weather to be out in, so I put on my drill sergeant boots and got everyone out the door to Ikea. While the kids played in Smaland, Jon and I checked out the offerings and grabbed a Malm bed for Bel and a new bigger desk for Otto.
We hauled everything home, assembled Bel's new bed, cleaned out about half her closet and swapped out the dressers, and did some reorganization of the remaining toys. She even has a proper nightstand now with a cute lamp and a couple of framed photos. She was pretty thrilled, and slept so well last night in her bed that I had trouble waking her this morning.
I think the bed will be perfect for the next few years, since it's low to the ground and hard to roll out of. Eventually I'll want to get her something nicer, but for right now it's perfect.
Otto's desk had to wait until tonight, which sort of drove him nuts -- he was so eager to get it set up that he could hardly wait. So this evening it was his turn. We flipped his bed around, pulled out some unused toys, and thinned out the amount of furniture in his room. I weeded his book collection and consolidated everything into one bookcase (instead of two) and set him up with a proper alarm clock. He thought that was pretty cool. But the new desk is his favorite thing -- he kept saying he loved the color (it's green!). And he has a ton more space now for all his ships, buildings, and minifig conversation groups.
Watching him put his LEGO pieces away was kind of fun. We asked him to get everything squared away before we started moving stuff, so he sat down and organized. All the minifigures were removed from their vehicles and put into the print tray, while the pieces themselves were divvied up into drawers based on some method known only to Otto.
Come to think of it, that's a lot like how I organized his bookcase (readers, chapter books, vintage kid books from his dad's collection, Star Wars and science books, the Tintin collection, etc.).
Annabel supervised the process while Otto tried to talk me into getting her her own LEGO building table. I told him she had to start Kindergarten first. Daddo has a strong back, but we're done moving furniture for now!
