Of Bribes and Beds

As I think I've mentioned, Collette has been anti-picture lately.  And by "anti-picture", I mean sobbing hysterically every time the camera is pointed in her direction, saying "I no want it! I no want picture!" over and over.  I really have no idea why this started; she is usually such a ham, and still is in person.  Should I just chalk it up to being 2?

In any event, her current lack of cooperation with photography hasn't bothered me too much, because, let's face it, we have a TON of pictures of the kid, but...we needed to get a Christmas card picture, and we needed to do it this past Friday, since I had a coupon (worth $40) that was going to expire.  So, I let Collette pick a dress (out of acceptable options, of course) and she picked one she was super excited to wear.  She even got to wear her "barkly" shoes with it, which made her literally do the dance of joy.  So there she is, dancing around in her cute dress and "barkly" shoes, and I pull out the camera, aaaaaand... cue waterworks.  I mean like, huge, crocodile tears and inconsolable wailing. 

So I put away the camera, and instantaneously the tears dry up, and Collette happily goes to read some of her books.  LL and I just look at each other.  And then he said "Got any bright ideas on how we are going to get a  picture of her? Because this obviously isn't working."

So I thought. 

And decided to do what any good mother would do.

I bribed my child with candy. 

Yes, people, I have totally resorted to bribing my child, and she just turned 2.

So we showed Collette a lollipop, and told her we needed to get some good pictures of her for Christmas before she could have it.  She cheerfully said "okay!" and stood still and grinned for pictures. 

Stinker.

And yes, I know.  She totally played me.

But friends, I'm 34 weeks pregnant.  And I'm tired.  And I needed a decent picture so I could get my free Christmas cards before my offer ran out.  So I caved.

In case you are wondering, here is the photographic evidence of my bribery.

At least I got the dress off and the hair up before I have her the lollipop!

And no, she didn't get to eat the whole thing.  That's actually a lollipop she's had for a while (and the same one we used for her 2 year photo shoot) and it's now back in safe keeping for another desperate mama moment. :)

In other big news, look who made the transition to her Big Girl Bed this weekend:

(Yes, I snuck in to her room to get a picture of her sleeping. :) I like to live on the edge. And, as you can tell, she still strips at nap time and bedtime. Ha!)

We got her side rail, and decided to try her out this weekend.  So far, she has done great! On Saturday night, she cried for a bit in her bed, but then went to sleep. At 4am, I woke up to a noise, and when I went into her room she was standing on the floor and the bed rail was on the floor, too.  I'm not sure if she pushed the bed rail off to get out, or if she fell, but she wasn't crying and didn't seem hurt.  At that point I put her back in her crib because I wasn't sure how to fix the rail.  Yesterday, she napped in her bed and then slept in it all night! Of course, she did play in her bed for about an hour and a half before she fell asleep, but she didn't get out of bed! Yay, Collette! We are one step closer to being ready for Baby Brother's arrival!