Baby Girl Moves To A Big Girl Bed

So, as most of you know, when Mark was in Vegas last year Baby Girl, who was 11 months old, decided to climb out of her crib, open all of her drawers and throw all of her clothes around her room. She greeted me crying at her door. I was able to distract her by sleeping on her floor for a few weeks until she decided that she should not crawl out again. Well, Tuesday morning, when Mark went in to get her, as he does every morning, she was standing happily at her door. She had been able to crawl into her crib for weeks, but had not tried to get out. Clearly it was time for a big girl bed.

We bypassed the toddler bed because she is already 36 inches tall, so really that would only last a short while. We set the bed up in her room today and she was very excited to jump on it and off of it. I was really worried about how the bedtime would go. Surprisingly, it went fairly well. I started off by laying down with her and then trying to leave. That failed. She was out of her bed before I had the safety rail back up. Then we tried laying down in my bed, which was part of our previous routine. Again, failure. So we went back to my bed, Mark placed several babies, dogs, and horses in her bed and then I took her back to my bed. I told her a story about a baby who had lots of little babies to look after and when the baby went to bed in the big girl bed, she would wake up to be a princess. When I asked her if she wanted to be a princess, it was a big yes. Then I asked if she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed to become a princess--big smiles and another big yes. So off we went to bed, I gave her a kiss and said I love you little princess and she has been sleeping ever since. All told, bedtime only took about 20 minutes. I just hope it continues to be this easy.

It amazes me how much difference 1 year has made. This time last year she was just getting stage 1 baby food, and maybe a few tiny puffs. Now she won't let us feed her or break up her sandwiches--they must be cut like mommy's. And most nights she refuses the highchair. She is very interested in the potty and we purchased one for her the other day. So now I just have to set it up for use and begin letting her explore it. Today at Home Depot she squealed, screamed and clapped when we past the toilets, so I think she is definitely interested. I'm just not sure I am ready for that kind of commitment yet. Exploring it is fine, but stopping and running to the bathroom every time we are out and she "wants to go potty." I know at some point I have to do it, but right now I'm just not into it. It may not be to practical with the Little Miss on the way. We will just have to wait and see with that one.

Also, 1 year ago she was not signing at all. Now, she can learn a new sign as soon as we introduce it to her. She combines signs and words and really listens to what you have to say. She actually sits to read a book, and even brings us books to read--something we never thought would happen outside of her bath. Being with her daily, it is difficult to see the changes, but when we sit back and think about it, it is absolutely amazing. It is very true when people say the days are very long, but the years are short.