An Even Bigger Big Girl Bed

I purchased this toddler bed off of a local bst site in the spring in anticipation of using it when Mckinley was ready for a big girl bed. I figured since she was doing such a good job sleeping in her converted crib we may as well go balls to the walls and get out the real deal. Since I had bought the bed from someone I did not have any instructions to put it together but I was able to locate instructions online and besides 1 mishap of of putting it together upside down (I had flashbacks of the great fan debacle if 2010). We got it worked out and besides missing 2 non crucial screws that hold 1 of the railings in place (it goes against the wall anyways) it is together and she loves it! She even helped me take her crib apart and I may or may not have whacked her with a board on accident. I am an awesome parent you know. 

Daddy needed a little happy today since sadly his grandmother passed away this morning so he took  Mckinley for a daddy date to get some donuts.  

She couldn't wait to eat her "Nonuts" and sat down in the middle of the floor and went at those doughnut holes like nobodies business! Then she decided they needed to be enjoyed in her new big girl bed. I think she really likes setting her stuff on her new bedside table.

I think she likes it just a little!

I wasn't sure how nap time would go today since it would be easier for her to get out of this bed then the crib with the big blue railing we tested out yesterday and I was not surprised when she took longer to fall asleep, got up a few more times,played more and fell asleep not in her bed but on her new bedside table. We couldn't see her on the monitor anymore and she was very quiet so I snuck in to check and panicked because I don't see her anywhere until I took a closer look. See if you can spot her

Dot worry we transferred her back into her bed because with our luck she would have rolled off of the table she was so lovingly snuggled on and token something. She slept for her usual hour and a glad to two hours and we woke her up for some snuggles and hugs for Nonni and Car Car. 

I will update tomorrow on how tonight went and where she falls asleep. It should be interesting and I am just waiting for her to snuggle into her tent and scare the daylight about of me when I can't find her anywhere! 

Ah parenthood 

A Bed For A Big Girl

I am still not sure what I was thinking or why I decided now was the time for big changes, but for some reason I decided that this weekend was the time for a trial run with the big girl bed. A sweet friend gifted us this bed before Mckinley was born and it was GASP! a drop side crib. I wasn't too worried about this and we just turned the drop side to the wall and we have never had an issue with it. I decided to remove the drop side part of the crib so I just turned the entire bed around and removed the attachments and took the side of the crib off and viola a toddler bed!!!!  We had planned on giving her a big girl bed for Christmas and I even purchased a tiny toddler bed off of a buy/sell site and I planned on redoing it and painting it grey. I guess this was going to be our big girl bed trial run, but it went so well I think we are going to skip the bed redo and save myself a lot of pain and suffering by sticking with the crib turned bed. 

Holy Moly was the monkey excited about this! She climbed in and read books for a half an hour. 

Since this wasn't a convertible bed we didn't have a railing to attach to the bed to keep the wild child from rolling out but I had seen a neat idea on Pinterest about using a pool noodle to create a barrier, but I decided to take it a step further and rolled up a big blanket and stuck that under the bed sheets also. Thankfully Brent's cousins are going to let us borrow a toddler bed rail so we don't have to shell  out any money honey for a new one. 

To add to the excitement of the new big girl bed we decided to go ahead and give her an early Christmas gift. This little girl LOVES her some Buzz and Woody and she was ridiculously excited about her Toys Bed as she calls it.

You think she likes it??

We started our trial run on Sunday during nap time and I am not going to lie because I was pretty nervous about this being a big huge disaster. I decided to apply a technique we use at school for making transitions in the classroom and I told Kinley I was setting and alarm and when it went off it would be time to get in bed, read a book, and lay down. Thankfully she was so excited about her new sheets that when the timer went off she was more then ready to head to her Toys Bed. She fussed for a minute, but to our surprise she layed down and slept for her typical 2 hours. And when the monkey woke up she stayed in her bed for another 30 minutes and then ate her cheese stick  in the bed so I think she kind of liked it.

Then we got scared wondering if night time would go as well as nap time had gone. We went through our usual night time routine of bath, jammies, brush teeth, water, books, prayers, and sugars good night. She fussed a little again, got out of bed once, threw her blankets out, got up and got them, then she got back in bed and went to sleep!

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect such a big transition to go so smoothly. She is slowly testing her limits by getting up and playing a little before going to sleep, she did test the door a few times tonight like a velociraptor testing the fences in Jurassic Park, and she did go to sleep much later than usual tonight, but she is asleep in her big girl bed and I am so proud of my big girl.