Big Girl Bed

It only took us about a month, but Anna has moved out of the crib and into a big girl bed. I hope I don't jinx myself, but Anna has been in her bed for about two weeks now and she is still taking naps. I think I was more nervous about moving Anna to the new bed than she was.

We bought the bed about a week after we brought Evie home, but it sat empty for three more weeks while I gathered the sheets and bed rail. It took me a long time to find a plastic mattress cover, not because it was difficult to find, but I kept forgetting to buy it. But I'm thinking that having the bed sit in our house for that long actually helped Anna get used to it. She played on it and we talked about her moving into it while we waited for the plastic sheet and the bed rail.

Finally everything was ready and we put Anna to bed in her new bedroom. She was so excited that she seemed to fall asleep without any problems. Of course, the next morning was a little rough when Anna found Evie sleeping in her crib. There was some pretty intense screaming, "My bed! Mine!" But she's gotten used to it. We've also had moments of crying and yelling when she didn't want to go to sleep. It helps that she can't open doors by herself, so in a sense it's almost the same as putting her in her crib, which she never learned to climb out of. At least once, she played all through nap time. That day I put Anna to bed a little later than normal and everything seemed to be quiet in her room, but as soon as Evie let out her first squawk announcing that her nap was over, I heard loud knocking on Anna's door and "Mamma! Come in!" When I did open her door, several books were scattered across the floor and she had managed to turn on her lamp.

Often I will open Anna's door just a crack after I put Evie back to bed in the early morning hours so that Anna can get out of bed herself in the morning. The first few mornings, I woke up to the sound of little feet running across the floor and suddenly Anna was beside my bed yelling, "Boo!" I guess that's how Dan used to greet her when he got her out of her crib in the morning.