Kerthunk! (A Tale of Toddler Rails)

There are so many milestones that parents get to look forward to; rolling over, first smile, first laugh, waving bye-bye, saying the first word, pulling up, walking, using a spoon. But all of those are baby milestones. (Yes, I know walking made Brenden a "toddler" but it was still something he did as a baby so that's where it falls in my head.) Then there are bigger milestones, like teeth falling out and the first day of kindergarten, that are reserved for when your baby is is absolutely NOT a baby anymore.

I thought we were far far away from anything that could qualify Brenden as a little boy and not a baby. Potty training? Um...not yet. I do not have the patience for that yet, although I may try to do it this summer when life isn't so crazy. He already shows some signs of being interested. I thought that would be our next big step. Well...he thought differently.

Sunday morning I woke up at 9 am and immediately started worrying. Brenden hasn't slept past 8:30 am since before he was 12 months old so this was completely out of character. I crept in to check on him and he was fine so I went back to bed to lounge around and read messages on my phone. At 9:30 am I heard him wake up and not 30 seconds later I heard a huge THUD and a piercing scream. I ran into the room as quickly as I could to find him sprawled on the floor, his head towards his crib, which meant that he had flipped on his way out. After checking him out and calming him down I called Tim to let him know it was officially time to put on the toddler rails, which was about 5 months earlier than we expected.

Taking the front of the crib off was easy and so was installing the rails. Brenden watched me the entire time and as soon as the side was off he was on his bed bouncing around. He even laid down on his pillow for a little while, which I thought was a good sign.

Cheesing for me in his big boy bed.

That night I went to my parent's house so we didn't get to try the new bed out until Monday night. (He slept fine in the crib at their house and didn't try to get out...lesson learned?) By the time I got home on Monday night he had already been asleep in the car so getting him into bed wasn't difficult. He did get up a few times but the baby gate we had across his door kept him in his room and he eventually fell asleep in his bed. I thought for sure he would roll out of it so I had pillows in front of the opening. They weren't necessary. He slept until 8:45 am and really only woke up because he had a bad dream.

Not too bad for the first time!

Naps...those are a different story. Yesterday he spent an hour running around, playing with his toys, until I went in, sat next to his bed, and kept him there until he fell asleep. He had no problems going to bed last night, so I thought the concept might sink in for today's nap. Boy was I WRONG!

Today he went to lay down at 10:45 am, just like every other day. By 11: 15 am I was about to go in and keep him in bed again, but then I decided that wouldn't help much He really needed to learn how to get into bed and fall asleep on his own. By noon I was going crazy. He had played with every toy in his room, including the foam floor made of alphabet letters, and I had no choice. I took EVERYTHING out of his room - the toys, the floor, his books - everything. All that is left in there is his bed, his changing table, some blankets and his clothes. I moved as much of it as I could to his playroom but some things had to go out to the garage, like the over abundance of stuffed animals and his fire engine ball pit. When we have a bigger house I'll put them back out. I would say that when he figured out how to fall asleep without playing I would put them back, but I think we'll move before that happens.

Sad, empty room.

He did fall asleep, eventually. And he fell asleep in his bed, which is good. I just hope the 2 hours I spent sifting through his toys and rearranging his playroom pay off.

So my baby is mostly a little boy now...a little boy in diapers. When did this happen?!? Just yesterday he was this chubby baby that rolled everywhere. Just yesterday he was learning how to hold a bottle. Brick? Head? Yeah...I see what you were saying mom and dad.

3 months old...boy time flies!