Avery has finally graduated from her Crib...I know 3 years old and she still loves her crib. It wasn't until just a few days ago that she realized that she could actually climb out. Needless to say the other night after she went to bed...we hear the basement door open up and there she is out of her crib and upstairs peering through the door. I went over to see what was up and I noticed that she had her pajama top on but was butt neked from the waist down... I walked her downstairs and asked her where her pants were...she said "She had to go potty". From what I gathered from my detective work was she went to the bathroom...decided that getting her bottoms on was too difficult so she headed up stairs to see what was going on. This convinced us that we were to a point that she needed her own big girl bed.
This was a big weekend as we started looking for a toddler bed...and we moved the crib out of her room in preparation to use for Baby Jack later this year. In addition to the bed (which was easy to find) we were on the search for The Little Mermaid bedding. Easy to find online...not so easy to find in the stores. Eventually we found the bedding and we went home to put the bed together and get everything set for her new bed. Kristi and I could tell that she was a mix bag of emotions as she was sad about her crib but excited about Ariel and her new toddler bed. Everything was shaping up well as she tested it out by having us turn off all the lights and getting in bed with her babies....then everything took a disastrous turn as bedtime approached.
No longer was the toddler bed looking so good....she was not ready to go to bed. As parent you sometime forget how little they are and what must go on in their little head. The fact that she had such easy access in and out of her bed was so new and exciting she forgot all about what happens when it is time to go to bed. I approached this night with the same ritual as every night...2 books, a story and a song. Sounds easy...and that part was. Next she laid down in bed and I could tell she was little out of sorts...and very wide awake...bad combination. I kissed her...told her goodnight and left the room. A few minutes later I hear...tiny feet out of bed and "click" "click"...looking under the door you could see a faint light as she turned the overhead light on. So I went into the room and there she was sitting in bed reading a book. Not a bad thing but...it is time for bed. So this time I turned off the ceiling light from the remote so she could not turn it on with the switch. I turned off the other switch that controls the lamp and turned off the lamp switch too...ha score one for Daddy. So after I left the room...once again I hear tiny feet and..."click" "click" and this time there was no light showing up under the door. Unfortunately, Avery is too smart...she proceeded to walk over to the lamp and turn on the switch then walk over to the light switch and on came the light. Score one for Avery....grrr :( Once again we had to go back in and have a talk about staying in bed and going to sleep. She still had the "I am wired on speed" look as she was unable to control her excitement and newness that this new scenario presented. This process went back and forth...."I have to go Potty", "I want my Mommy", "I'm scared"...you name it she tried it. One time I heard the door creak open and there she was standing in the doorway with a tea cup and spoon..."Want some tea daddy?" As cute as it was all I can say...2 hours later she finally passed out from just being so tired. Don't get me wrong I expected it to be a challenge but hopefully it won't take too long to move past this.