Romper Room

I'm embracing the fact that Gavin requires a lot of toys to be entertained. (Or maybe that I think he needs a lot of toys to be entertained. Some days, he's quite happy with the sticker off of a banana.) While my mom was here, she and I moved the piano from the un-named "red sofa room" to the living room. And, toys went to the new romper room.

Later, I shifted the sofa on to a different wall so that the sofa is more prominent than the toys. We've intended to buy a rug for that room for five years now, but haven't. When you're on the floor playing, you need a rug. I talked with Dave about buying a rug with a geometric print. He recommended a rug with a road pattern for Gavin to play on. I gave some lame argument about not wanting it to be entirely a kiddie room. He scoffed at me, asking me to look around at all of the toys. Knowing he was right, I decided to embrace the romper room decor.

I shopped on eBay for rugs with the road design, finding a 5x7 rug for $60. Thankfully, I didn't buy it immediately. Saturday the rain prevented Dave from doing his 25 mile paddle, so he accompanied Gavin and me to Ikea for some rattan trunks (I'm stealing Lindsey's toy storage solution). There, we also found a rug for $18; it's not quite as big and the colors aren't quite as vibrant, but for one-third the price it will do. We also found a baby gate for the upstairs landing, a craft paper dispenser, two small rugs, and a few kitchen items. Two hundred dollars later, we left. Dave says I can't go back for another five years.

Romper room still has a way to go. We want to get some pictures on the walls. We both have some ideas. We'll just have to see what we end up doing. Gavin is happy to have all his toys together. He's not too happy that he can barely reach into the trunks, but before we know it, he'll be plenty tall enough to pick out his favorite toy.