Time For Big Girl Bed

Goodbye, our lovely crib! Actually we have been thinking about switching little caterpillar to a big girl bed for a while. OK, maybe it's just me. Stubborn doesn't see the point. I kept telling him that our little girl is too tall, when she standing on her toy or pillow, her belly is right at the railing level, her entire upper body is out! And I caught her several times try to climb out. I heard stories from coworkers and friends, about how their kids fell out the crib when they were her age. That gave me the chills! I refused to think my baby girl will too fall out her crib one day, and in the worst scenario break her little neck. Knock on wood! Again! And Again! I WILL NEVER LET THAT HAPPEN.

Then my best friend gave me their toddler bed when they moved away. Perfect timing. I immediately started assembling and cleaning it. It's in almost perfect condition, not even a scratch. But big ZZ (my best friend's little boy, little caterpillar's first "boyfriend" =) ) loved stickers, so there are some on this nice white bed too. Some already gone, left some sticky residue to attract dirt and lint. I used the trick I use to remove the labels from containers, Windex. It worked perfectly. Now we have a brand new bed! The next problem will be actually making her sleep in it.

When we were disassembling it at Big ZZ's home, she was very curious about it. She also tried to help mommy 'rebuild' it. Right after I assembled it and put the mattress back on, she climbed in and pretend to sleep again. OK, looked like she accepted this new bed. So, I moved her crib to the side, and put this new bed at where her crib was. She still looked ok. OK, I went on disassemble her crib, right there in her nursery. I tried, but couldn't get it out. It's just too tall and wide for the doorway. Just when I thought everything went smoothly, this happened after I removed one railing. Then she just stood there, quietly, sucking on her thumb (meaning she's sleepy) and holding on to her blanket, while giving me this sad look!Well, there is no turning back at that point. After several minutes negociating, I managed to lure her off the crib with some toys.

Long story short, the switching process was as smooth as it possibly can. The first two nights, little caterpillar was too excited about this new found freedom, she climbed in and out, running around the room, pulled all her books out of the shelf, played with her stuffed animals. All these happened with the light's off. We could barely see a thing! She finally went to bed after 11PM! I slept with her in her room, on the twin bed next to her, just to keep an eye on her. Surely she fell out of the bed, so quietly, I didn't even hear it. I just happened to opened my eyes to check on her, and there was no baby in the bed?! Lucky I was prepared, put several pillow on the floor. She landed on the pillow, didn't even make a sound. I could grab the camera to record that, she was so cute on the floor, but that would be too mean. No, I didn't do that. I genetally picked her up and put her back to bed. Then started thinking how to block that section to prevent this from happening again. That's how much sleep I got that night. But slowly, little caterpillar got used to her new bed. Her bedtime moved towards her normal time, and she managed to stay in there for a couple of nights. This is a child who would roll around in her crib all night, sleep with her back firmly against the railings. Now just a little bit of turning? It's amazing! My baby girl is growing up! Good! Because I already put the crib up to the attic, I am not dragging it down again. Now I can think about decor and maybe new layout for the nursery. Or should we call it the 'big girl room' from now on? Finally, one item crossed off my to-do list, only a million more to go! Growing up with her is harder than I thought.