Our Little Girl and The Big Bed

In the past week, our little Maren has gone from little girl to big girl, and back to our little girl. The "big kid bed" experiment went quickly awry...

The good news? Maren is actually in bed, because, well, she can't get out of it.

The bad news? I have a feeling she's going to sleep in her crib FOREVER.

The first night was both amusing and trying...after the third time she had gotten out of bed, opened up her bedroom door, and pitter-pattered her way out to the living room with exclamations like, "I'm hungry!", and "I'm not tired!", I was questioning our semi-spontaneous decision to make the transition. These post-dinner exclamations were things that she might have said before being plopped into her crib and soon falling asleep (seemingly to have forgotten about the "hunger" and the "not tired-ness"). But now, with the unencumbered nature of the big kid bed? She was experiencing her first tastes of freedom - and who could blame her for taking full advantage?!

But by last night - only the third night of this failed adventure - Maren was herself asking to put the crib back up. We quickly agreed. It was 9pm, she had been up for an hour, fighting us with every tactic, more urgency in her requests (read: demands) and a tinge of fear in her voice, and there was no way for us to MAKE her stay in bed. So she wouldn't. After the third tantrum, Andy got his tools and the "bed" went back to a "crib." She slept soundly.

There are lots of big transitions coming for our little Maren... there's that darn nuk she loves at bedtime and naptime and anytime she's struggling with something... and then there's that potty training thing - she likes to sit on the potty, and exclaims "I can feel the tinkle!"... but there is no actual tinkling. And then there's the big kid bed. So much change for such a little kidder. She's growing up fast enough without my own time line of what it means to be a big kid creeping in on her.

The girl cannot be rushed. And that's ok with us.