Yawning, Snoring, Good Night!

My First Born Son can and will sleep in a Big Boy Bed. Hooray! We had both boys in cribs up to this point. Neither of them could get out of their mini jails and I quite liked that idea. Having a newborn is hard enough without the constant threat of a toddler who is able to move freely about the house. But, my newborn is no longer a newborn (sniff, sniff) and my little boy is growing up fast. I decided last week that he is ready, so on Monday we took the plunge.

I talked it up all day long. We saw that Max slept in a Big Boy Bed. So did Dora and Boots. (Seperately, of course. And Dora probably has a Big Girl Bed but we didn't get into gender during our conversations)

Greg got home from work and after a quick bite to eat we headed off to Babies R Us to make our purchase. There it was. The Perfect Bed. (The cheapest) We found a salesperson who very professionally wrote the serial number down on the palm of her hand so that she could see if they had it in stock. They of course didn't. We chose another bed. (the next cheapest) They didn't have that in stock either. But they could special order it and we could get it in three weeks!!! Um, no thanks.

We went to Baby Depot at Burlington Coat Factory. I automatically feel like I need to bathe in antibacterial soap as soon as I walk in that store. The floors are all cracked and disgusting and the clientele at this particular store makes you want to hide your wallet and hold your children that much closer. But we were on a mission, so I chose to ignore all of that and focus on the task at hand. I also chose to ignore the fact that Greg put M in one of their filthy shopping carts with no fabric cart cover. (Yep, I’m one of THOSE moms) So far he has contracted no diseases though, so Greg is forgiven.

I search through the maze of a baby section and I'm unable to see anything that resembles a toddler bed. Finally we see them. (after asking) We choose. (The cheapest) They have the bed in stock. We buy it. They take it to our car for us. Babies R Us has never offered to carry ANYTHING to my car. Didn't help though. Still don't like Burlingtons.

We get home and Greg puts the bed together. A is so excited that he is jumping around in circles. He is unsuccessful in his attempt to turn the crib railing into a ladder and gets hurt AND in trouble in the process. (Mom takes the picture THEN reprimands and kisses ouchies) He takes key pieces of the bed into the next room and hides them. We find them and resume bed-building. I am in charge of the instructions since this takes the least amount of energy and intelligence. They are obviously translated into English by someone that did not speak English but Greg figures it out without even looking at them. You don’t marry engineers merely for their good looks.

The bed is finally in one piece and we slide it into place. A grabs his blankets and jumps on. We spend the next five minutes trying to convince him to leave the bed and put his pjs on. He finally gives in but spends the entire time I am trying to dress him trying to get back into bed. Greg reads him a story. A eyes the bed. We kiss him goodnight and tuck him in. Somewhere in there we brushed his teeth too. We turn out the light and close the door. He cries. I give him a minute, go in and tell him that it's just the same, only a little different. Mom and Dad are still in the next room. I tell him he should try to go to sleep and he does. He wakes up crying once during the night. I go in and tell him that it's just the same, only a little different. Mom and Dad are still in the next room. I tell him he should try to go to sleep and he does.

I was more worried about how naptime would go so the next afternoon I was a little anxious. He went down just fine. The kid must love sleep like his parents do. Two hours later I was feeding M in the kitchen and I heard A's door creak open. All the sudden he is at the top of the stairs. "Hi, Momma!!" I smile. My little boy is growing up.

So far he hasn't tried to get out of bed at weird times or resist it, so that is good. I have heard quite the horror stories from friends about how the introduction to the bed was the end of all naptime and through-the-night sleeping. I am crossing my fingers that this won't happen to us. I am SO not ready for that.

And since I don't want M to feel left out, this is him enjoying HIS bed.