Move to the Big-Girl Bed

We made the big switch Sunday night. Cora is now sleeping in a toddler bed. Never mind the fact that the bed is technically the same size as her crib, as it uses her crib mattress - to Cora, this is most definitely her "big girl bed."

She has been very excited about this transition, talking about her bed a lot. She helped Stace put it in place, helped make it, and decided which animals and books would share it with her.

It was a tad bit emotional for Stace and me - we can clearly remember putting the crib together over three years ago.

For now, Stace will take the crib apart and it will live in the garage for a few months, until Duckie is big enough to need it.

Anyway, back to Sunday night. We tucked Cora in, and told her that we wouldn't be coming back in to tuck her in again, should she decide to get out. Somehow, we just knew she would spend time exploring her room and getting new books to read, now that she could. We could hear her bouncing around for well over an hour, talking and playing. Granted, she always plays in her crib for a while before falling asleep, so that wasn't really unusual.

Around 10 p.m., the room had been quiet a while, so I carefully opened the door to peek in, wondering where she might have fallen asleep - by the door? the closet? actually in her bed?

As soon as I'd opened the door, I heard, "Who's that!?!" coming from a sleepy voice, on the floor next to her bed. She was lying there with her blankie, and said she'd fallen out of the bed. Well, since there are guards to prevent her actually falling out, I'm sure she rolled out on purpose. She obviously hadn't quite fallen asleep, and my unfortunate interruption didn't help at all.

Stace and I heard her talking and playing again a bit later, and as I was falling asleep around 11:30, I could still hear her singing.

She was very tired Monday morning, of course, and I was a little concerned that she might spend all of naptime playing. Thankfully, she did fall asleep quickly, and took a long nap.