The "Big Boy" Bed

my little j is no longer a little baby anymore. he now is a "big boy" in a "big boy" bed. it was such a bitter sweet moment transitioning him from his crib to the bed. i was excited for him to have a new bed - and to allow his baby brother to sleep in his crib - but i wasn't sure how it was going to go.

i had been telling him for awhile that he was going to move into his new room and in that new room he would have a big boy bed. i don't know if he really got it or not. he would act really excited but i think that he just gets excited about most things i tell him about. (like you are going to school on monday, he is very excited about that - yet when we go to meet the teachers and walk into the classroom he starts crying :)). so we set up the bed and had one last night in the crib and told him he would go into the bed the next night.

well - he seemed excited about it. we did our normal routine - read his books, prayed, gave him the pacifier (yes he still takes one at night - you can judge me for that - but i felt that there have been too many transitions in his life right now to take away his little security!) and then were about to walk out the room - when he lost it. he was so scared and cried a very terrified cry.

i can imagine how scary it is to be in a brand new bed and a brand new room and think what is going on!

so we laid in bed with him until he fell asleep. meanwhile as i am laying there with him i am thinking to myself - why do we try to have them grow up so quickly? not that i didn't think it was time for him to be in a big bed - but why do i want him on the first night to be so independent that he just sleeps fine in the new bed. yes there is a time for that - and i do want him to grow up and become independent - but he is only two! so i realized that it is really mostly for my convienence - so i don't have to spend an hour or two of my time to help my child go to sleep. then i thought - this is what being a mom is all about. helping your child transition, being there for them when they are scared. loving them through changes and showing them that new things are okay and that they are going to make it through. there will be a time when he doesn't need me, or call for me or want me to lay next to him to help him fall asleep - but for right now - he does need me and that is sweet and good.

so as i come to terms with things in my mind - he actually does fall asleep (with jordan in the bed because i was getting myself ready for a long night of sleeping with a toddler). i was so excited and relieved that he fell asleep and went to sleep myself. well at about 1:30 am we hear jayden screaming in his room. yes - he fell out of the bed. the terrible thing is that i had bought a side rail for him at target that day - but thought he probably didn't need it because i didn't think he moved around that much in the crib. apparently i was wrong. so i actually did end of sleeping the night with my sweet 2 year old and we marked a big stage in toddler history - together.

sorry for the long story but just wanted to write down my thoughts of such a big transition.

i have so many things to post from our trips. i will try to do that soon - we just moved into our new addition so we have been busy with all of that!