I heard Olivia whimpering in the middle of the night last night. Hoping she’d go back to sleep, I ignored her for a few minutes until I heard her door close. I got up to find her climbing up on her chair as if about to attempt climbing back into her crib. She wasn’t crying. And when I asked her what she was doing, she whispered in a half coherent way that she couldn’t find her milk. I held her in her chair for a few minutes and asked her what she was doing up. She told me she didn’t like her crib. She wanted to come to my bed. I told her that perhaps tonight we could have a sleep over on her floor, and wouldn’t that be fun. And then tomorrow we would make her bed into a new “Big Girl Bed.” She seemed as happy as a two year old could be at 5:30 in the morning.
So today we finally did it. I know, most parents would be shocked and horrified to learn that Olivia, at age 35 months still sleeps in a crib. I always said . . . until she climbs out of it on her own or turns 3 – which ever comes first. Well, she FINALLY learned to climb out a few weeks ago. Even though she’s had the knowledge, she’s only done it a half dozen times. But today we got out our screw drivers and hex wrenches and made her crib into a toddler day bed. As we began the process, she looked up at me and said “But I will miss my crib.” I told her it was okay to be sad. But things change, and it would be a good change and she would be happy. Boy, was she ever, when she saw she could now climb out AND IN her own bed by herself. Wyatt ran through a bathroom drill with her a few times, and she enjoyed putting all her babies on the bed. She’s such a big girlie!