Growth Milestones

Aria at Richland Park, this is the ladder she impressively scaled without any help. 

I've always wondered why people call little girls "Little Miss-Something-or-Another." I now know because on the average little girls are full of sass and personality! So Little Miss Aria, full of independence, fearless determination and sheer unabashed curiosity pushed through a milestone I wasn't remotely prepared to accept: the end of the crib.

In my mind, with September looming, I imagined that around her birthday we would ceremoniously remove the crib and present Aria with the toddler bed we made for Roland. Then, Sunday evening, as Brian and I finally sat down to relax on the couch we heard an interesting giggle coming from the stairs. Well hello there Aria, how nice to see you at close to 9:30 p.m. I carried the very loving Ari back to their room and deposited her in the crib with a gentle command to go to sleep in her bed. About 15 minutes later we heard the same sweet giggle as little eyes poked around the stairs. (She is stealth) Now we're dealing with a safety risk as she is sleepy but scaling large furniture in the dark. I made the executive decision to put her in bed with Roland. Amazingly, through all this Roland never left his bed once. And there they slept.

The next day Brian dismantled the crib and Aria embraced her new bed, until nap time. The first night I rubbed her back to help soothe the get-up-and-run-around desire. As soon as I lifted my hand and stepped away the I-can't-believe-I'm-sleeping-in-my-own-bed giggles erupted. After some coaching all seemed well. I worked on the computer monitoring the door and sure enough, it started to open 15 minutes later. I crept to the doorway to meet the grinning Aria who sprinted with lightning speed back to her bed, but stayed. I checked on her two hours later - still sleeping soundly. Around 4 a.m. I found her sleeping on the floor. Hm...

Either way, tonight, the third night with no crib, a few back rubs, a handful of giggles and a couple dozen kisses later, Aria is soundly asleep in her toddler bed. There's a few things I forgot about this transition. First, how to do it? I think we've managed it for the time being. (thank you so much Brian for the baby gates) Second, how awesome it is to be able to lay down beside your child at bedtime. I forgot! And I can't believe I forgot because this is the best part! Getting to snuggle with your little on their level. No more aerobatics leaning over the crib rail on your pelvis bone trying to lovingly kiss while not falling in and crushing. Now I can snuggle from the floor and it's safe, easy and extra close! And I can tell Aria loves it! She loves the bed and the extra close bedtime snuggles. But still, she's growing in gallops whereas I would rather her grow in inches. Make that millimeters.

Soon, maybe at Christmas, we'll get Roland a mattress for the top bunk and move Aria to the bottom bunk, but for now I've all the growth spurts and milestones I can stand.