This is 4 days of blogging all in the same post. Apologies!
Jackson is two years and 3 months old, starting to wear big boy underwear, drinking from a regular cup, using 7+ word sentences, picking out his own clothes, expressing his opinions, questioning and repeating everything, and getting freckles--we can't keep it from happening. He is turning into a big boy, a kid! With all of these wonderful transitions comes "the time" to move from his crib to a bed. A time I have been dreading. After all, who doesn't love cribs? They are safe and have those brilliant bars to keep him secure. He's happy, and we're happy. Now I'm left wondering if we will ever be happy again.
We gave his big boy bed a lot thought. OK, I admit, I was stalling a little. No bed meant a little more crib time. We did some research, looked online, visited furniture stores and Ikea. We decided to skip the toddler bed (a waste of money) and jump into a twin size bed, preferably low to the ground with a rail..that goes all the way around the bed..wait, I'm describing a crib. After looking a lot and finding very little, my aunt surprised us with her boys' sturdy, oak bunk beds, which are still in excellent condition. They met all of the criteria... except for the rail that encircles the bed. :) We assembled the "new" beds and hid the ladder in the closet. The big boy bed transition was upon us.
Night number one- entitled, "Into the Unknown"
We talked up the bed a lot. All day. Jack was very excited. We went through the usual nightly routine of brushing teeth, reading a story of Jackson's choosing, and rocking while singing two or three favorite songs. We moved all of his animal friends and blanket to his new bed. Jackson crawled in AND... immediately started crying. Adam and I both sat next to the bed and tried to coax him to lie down, but he wouldn't have it. After a few minutes of of failed attempts, we decided to say goodnight and leave the room. (I am now going to insert some clarification. Jackson was crying because he didn't want to go to bed, which started about a week ago because he wanted to stay up and play with his aunt and uncles, who spent a few days with us. In his crib, he'd cry a little and call us into the room every other second with a new excuse to stay awake, but eventually, he grew bored and would fall asleep. He was not crying because he was scared of the new bed.) Adam and I left the room and walked into the kitchen. A few seconds later the crying stopped, and Jack's door slowly creaked opened. His head popped out of the small opening, and he cracked up laughing when he saw us staring at him from the kitchen. And so it begins, the realization, the enlightenment. "If I'm upset about going to bed, I can just get OUT of my bed." I took him by the hand and led him back into his room. Then the crying started. Then the quiet. Then the creak of the door. Then the crying as we walked back to bed and so on. Over and over and over. After 15 minutes of this I was ready to put him in his crib. "He's just not ready!" I pleaded with Adam. However, perseverance was our motto, and one hour later he was peacefully sleeping in his new bed.
Night number two- "Here We Go Again!"
Jackson started giving us excuses before bed, if that gives any indication of how bedtime went. He crawled into bed crying and hopped down and followed us out before we could even get outside of the room. We took turns taking him back to bed, sitting with him, and trying to coax him to lie down. Exactly one hour later, he was finally asleep.
Night number three- "I've Got This!"
Adam needed to do research for his thesis so I assured him I had bedtime under control. No need to tag team it tonight. He headed to Starbucks, and I went through the bedtime routine alone. I fully expected his usual crying, but what I wasn't prepared for was the toll it would take on me doing this alone. Jackson screamed at the top of his lungs for daddy (of course, because daddy couldn't tuck him in, and my son is the king of excuses). I walked him back to bed over and over and over. He screamed louder and louder. I felt my blood pressure rising, and I had to take deep breaths to stay calm. At times I wanted to yell, "Just go to sleep!!" Other times I wanted to give in, to rock him, or crawl in bed with him, but I managed to calmly walk him back to bed and leave the room. I could feel myself reaching a breaking point as the clock turned 9:30 and no end was in sight. I called Adam crying and asked him to come home. I couldn't take anymore. Of course, Jackson fell asleep at 9:35, right before Adam walked in the door.
Keep reading as I update our progress or the lack there of.
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