A Milestone

In November, we are giving Charlotte her own room. Originally, because we have a small house and because I saw no real reason why not to, the kids were going to share a room. We only have two bedrooms upstairs and I wanted them to be near me. We have another bedroom on the first floor but had made it into a dining room since we have a small eat-in kitchen that's not big enough for dinner parties.

After two years in this house, we've used that dining room maybe three times. Apparently, dinner parties are not something that people with small children have as often as they think they will. So, we're going to turn that room into a big girl bedroom for Charlotte. I have my old bedroom furniture from when I lived at home and since it's oak, it's still in good shape. It's also bunk beds (that can be separated), which I think she'll really like in a few years. For now, we'll make the top bunk The Place Where Stuffed Animals Go To Die.

I'm excited to make this room for her and of course it will end up being a Dora or Mermaid Room. which is okay thanks to the invention of those removable wall stickers. I can paint the walls a neutral color and she can change the theme of her room as often as she likes with those stickers.

Sawyer will move into her room and the crib once he outgrows his hammock which is one reason we chose November - he'll be just about four months and ready to make the transition. Another reason is that Kellie, Cass, and Kristin (and hopefully Kelly) are coming to visit in November and Charlotte's room will be a cat-hair free place for Kellie to sleep. It gives me a deadline to get her room finished and we'll move her in after that weekend of female debauchery.

Because my child doesn't like a change in her routine, we decided to make her crib into her toddler bed so she could get used to "a big girl bed" since she'll be going into a twin-size in November. We didn't want to overwhelm her with a new bed AND a new room. So we decided to let her get used to a real bed before we moved her downstairs.

All afternoon, we talked it up and let her play in it. She seemed excited to go to bed at night, repeating that "I go in my big girl bed!" But when we got up there, it was a different story. It took some convincing to even get her in it, and she kept opening the closet door, where Mike had put the crib side and crying "Daddy come fix it!" I eventually got her in the bed and sat on the floor next to her crib. I didn't want to stay until she fell asleep because I didn't want her to get used to that. So I sat and rubbed her head for a few minutes, got up, kissed her goodnight, and walked out. She cried but she stayed in her bed. She hit her mobile (one of her comfort items; it plays music and projects stars on the ceiling) a few times, but after about 30 minutes, she fell asleep.

And stayed in her bed ALL NIGHT. I fully expected to wake up to a toddler face within inches of mine or have her freak out in the middle of the night, but there was none of that. I don't let my kids sleep in my bed so I expected a night of getting up 30 times to put her back in her own bed. But, nothing! I hear her up around 7:30 and when I went to get her she was proud of herself, "I sleep in my big girl bed Momma!"

I was so proud of her. I made a big deal out of it and made her blueberry pancakes to celebrate.

She's becoming such a little person, no longer my baby. I'm thrilled at what a wonderful little girl she's becoming and at the same time, totally and utterly heartbroken.

Slow down just a little, okay baby?