Big boy!

Well, we did it. We bit the bullet and put the little guy in a big boy bed. I think I took it the hardest, surprise, surprise. He wasn't climbing out of his crib or anything, but we will be needing it for Lucy in 3 short months. He starts preschool in September, so we are trying to space out all the big changes. We didn't do the toddler bed thing since it just seemed like one more thing to store when he outgrew it, so we just went straight to a twin with rails.

Initially, the plan had been to move him into the smaller bedroom and keep his room the nursery for Lucy (so we could sleep in there, too) but in the end, I didn't have the heart to make him give up his room or paint over all the hard work we did making it his nursery. The bedding I picked happen to match the current paint job perfectly, which was a bonus. A few weeks ago, we moved our furniture back upstairs and practiced sleeping up there, which we haven't done since he started sleeping in his crib. It was hard, but the video monitor really makes it seem like he is right next to us and we leave our door open. Our house is the size of a shoe, so we can be down 12 steps and into his room in no time flat if we need to (but we haven't needed to).

So, yesterday we (ok, I, but Susan went along with it) decided to finish up the big switch and go for it. We moved the crib, changer and big chair into Lucy's new room and set up his new furniture in his room. We changed a little of the decor and had it ready roughly 5 minutes before his bed time. So, he didn't really have much time to get used to it. He really likes all the monsters - he walks into the room and says "CUUUTE!" and points to the ones on the wall.

Last night went pretty well, I think, for a first night. I laid him down and he seemed scared and unsure and cried, so I sat down in his little green chair and did our Sleep Lady shuffle. Once he knew I was there, he just quietly looked around and seemed like he was going off to sleep but then seemed to catch a second wind. Singing, clapping, talking, counting. He never cried and never tried to get out, so that's good. He did keep crashing his head into the headboard, so I ended up putting his crib bumpers on around the top and down the sides of the bedrails. It looks silly, but it seemed to help. He's really used to sleeping cuddled up next to them, so I think he missed them. After an hour, I got Susan to switch with me. Finally at 8:30 he passed out. He slept all the way until 5:00 and then Susan couldn't get him to settle so she hopped into his bed and he slept until 7:30 (!!) which is a record. He had his tumble class today and I just put him down for his first nap in the big bed. He kind of fussed for a second, so I decided to walk out and see how it went. He was happy before I even got out of the room and he just explored around the bed a little and then just laid down with his Mr. Monkeys and went to sleep! All by himself!! Only took about 10 minutes and I didn't have to stay with him. All in all, it's going a lot better than I thought it would.

His bedding is from Garnet Hill. The headboard was a Carigslist score and the wall decals I found on Etsy. I made the art behind his bed and his new wall letters that spell his name - all with stuff from the scrapbook store. The blue furniture is from WalMart, believe it or not. The bookcase is something I've had forever and he got the anywhere chair for his birthday from Pottery Barn Kids. Curtains are from Target. Putting all his books on that bookcase next to his green chair has worked out well as he now grabs a book and sits right down in the chair to read it.

I can't believe he is out of the crib already. He looks so small in that big bed, but I guess I can't keep him a little baby forever (although, I try!). This past week he just seems to really be growing and developing like crazy and becoming less and less of a baby. :( This growing up thing is so much harder on the parents!

Lucy's room is coming along too, but won't be done anytime soon. I'm trying to pace myself because doing too much in one day really makes a mess of my body (like I discovered this morning). I'll get pictures up as soon as it's done. You can see pictures of Theo's room by checking out our Flickr stream above.