Sayonara Crib

As you can see from this post's title, we've bid the crib a fond farewell, letting the solid barrier between sleeping (or not-so-sleeping) Maddie languish in the basement, awaiting sibling to be conceived later. We actually did this about two weeks ago, but you know me and the fear of blog karma--I was worried that talking about the fact that it was going relatively smoothly (we're dealing with an almost-two-year-old here, so relatively is all, well, relative) would totally jinx us, and we'd go through two weeks of sleepless hell as payment for our smugness.

Truth be told, we can't really take all, or even most of the credit. We only ordered the toddler bed rails (we have a convertible crib) and reconfigured the crib because Laura had Maddie start sleeping on a mat for naps about a month ago. To be fair to the Madster, though, Laura can't take too much credit either. Aside from the occasional leaving of the bed or, ahem, bugging the other child sleeping in the room, she's done beautifully. The first day, Laura was very clear with her that she was going to sleep like a big girl, and she hadhadhad to stay on her mat, and if she moved, Laura would have to come up and put her back to bed. Maddie laid down on the mat, on her back, arms at her sides, and three minutes later when Laura checked on her, she was fast asleep, still on her back, arms at her sides.

So, two Sundays ago, we did the big switcheroo. The first nap trial wasn't so great. We ended up having to bust out the "pacis" to get her to take a nap. Since then, like I said, relatively smooth. Bedtimes have been a little rough, wake-ups have been a little early, and we've gone back to the crap-nap, which is my new term for the length of her at-home naps as compared to the marathons she regularly bangs out at daycare. BUT, she is sleeping through the night, and while she does talk to herself (or scream for me) before going to bed, she doesn't get out of bed, most nights. It's going to be a transition, and we were prepared for this. (Not really looking forward to it, but prepared.) Anyway, here's a picture of our big girl sleeping in her big girl bed, just like a big girl...big girl, big girl, big girl. It's bittersweet, as are most milestones.

Sweet dreams, baby girl. (Yes, she piled all that up herself. I don't know.)

P.S. - So, last night, she slept until 6:45 a.m., which is a good half hour later than she's slept previously, in the new bed. Also, today, she took a 2.5 hour nap at home, which is a good hour longer than she's slept previously, in the new bed. Yes, yes, I know. Bring it on, blog karma!