The Big-Boy Bed Saga

Two weeks ago, as he recovered from scarlet fever, we attempted to remove the side of ARR’s crib and turn it into a toddler bed. He was delighted with his power: He got in and out and in and out. Which meant that naptime didn’t happen, as he just wanted to climb in and out of his bed. (He eventually fell asleep in the stroller and stayed soundly asleep on my shoulder for 45 minutes.) When, at bedtime, he only wanted to climb in and out of the bed, I put the crib side back on.

We knew that putting the crib side back on was a temporary measure: While ARR had not escaped the crib, he was perfectly capable of doing so as soon as it occurred to him that it was a possibility. He could get his leg up over the crib bar and “dangle”. But first we had to contend with a week of screaming bedtimes when he wanted us to re-remove the side, stay with him until he slept, and/or let him sleep in our bed. Allowances you make for a sick kid do not get easily compartmentalized, after all. So we spent a week explaining that sleeping in a big boy bed meant that you had to stay in your bed and get to sleep by yourself, and not scream or go roaming.

On Friday morning, I took the crib side off again. As predicted, he did not nap. (We’re theorizing that he’s starting to grow out of naptime, but he’s not quite there yet, so we spent the weekend trying to exhaust him in the morning and then letting him nap in the stroller later in the afternoon.) That evening, I stayed in his room longer than usual to encourage him to stay in bed, but eventually left and sat outside his door and held the knob so he couldn’t escape. He screamed for two minutes, went back to his bed in a huff, and then went to sleep.

Saturday and Sunday night he was sufficiently tired / clear on the concept that he just got into bed and peacefully went to sleep at bedtime; and all three times he called for us in the morning rather than getting up to come find us, which bodes well. (I have a jury-rigged “baby alarm” in front of his door, consisting of a playpen wall with jingle bells on it blocking the way. He can move it and get out if he wants, but not without making enough noise to alert us to what’s going on.)

Fingers crossed that bedtime becomes pleasant again!

Little Shop of Horrors: 1-Night Performance at City Center

Things I didn’t think I’d get to do: See Ellen Greene live on Broadway.

Reprising the role of Audrey that she created thirty years ago, Greene’s voice isn’t quite what it was but he comedic chops are even better. And boy oh boy, did the audience love seeing her. I haven’t been in an audience this appreciative in a very long time. It was the kind of show where the actors are clearly having so much fun, and the audience just ran with it.

I suspect the script-holding “staged reading” nature of the show was of most benefit to Jake Gyllenhaal, who flubbed at least two lines that the audience would notice and one other that I picked up just from knowing the show really well. He was a very serviceable nebbish/hipster Seymour, though.

Eddie Cooper was downright amazing as Audrey Two, standing out from an overall very strong cast. And getting a young boy to play/carry the small plant before it “grows” into Cooper was a bit of brilliance.

(Professional review with more details.)

Overall: Such a fun night of theater. And it reminded me that pretty much the entire score and the majority of the script is still locked in my memory from sixteen years ago—so should it be any surprise that Ellen Greene can recreate a role from 30 years ago so well?