Growing Up

Caroline is quickly outgrowing her bassinet.  This has necessitated moving Brooke from her crib to a toddler bed so that Caroline can take up residence in the crib.

We got the bed set up in the girls’ room.  Brooke loved jumping on it and pretending to sleep on it.  However, come bedtime, she didn’t want anything to do with it.  That was okay.  We let her sleep in her crib for a few more days to get used to the idea of the toddler bed.

Dallas and I kept talking up her “big girl bed” and how it would be so fun to sleep in.  This sort of backfired on us because Brooke then started referring to the crib as the “big girl bed” and the toddler bed as “Caroline’s bed.”  Uh-oh.  I mean, it makes sense–the crib is bigger than the toddler bed so I can see how she was confused.

Finally, one night Brooke decided she wanted to sleep in the toddler bed.  She got a little scared as she was falling asleep, but got over that pretty quickly and has slept great at night ever since.

Nap time has been another story.  Once Brooke realized the freedom that comes from not being trapped by crib bars, there’s been no second thoughts about returning to the crib.  More often than not, nap time has turned into play time for Brooke.  I guess that’s okay because I still get a break from her, but it comes with a cost.  After “nap time” is over, I have to deal with the aftermath which usually includes toys everywhere and every stitch of clothing thrown from her dresser drawers onto the floor.  (Actually, it was worse.  The first day we tried nap time in the bed, we left her closet open.  Big mistake.  Dallas keeps a filing cabinet in her closet filled with all of our medical records, insurance papers, credit card statements, etc.  Can you guess what our darling did?  Yeah, she emptied it.  That took FOREVER to clean up.  We were not happy.  The filing cabinet is now securely locked…and the closet doors are tied shut, just for good measure.)

Sometimes Brooke does fall asleep and I rejoice on those blessed days (today being one of them!).  However, I wonder if the toddler bed was even necessary.  She seems to prefer the floor.