Transitions

I'm not great about change. I like routine. I'm not good with transitions. If I can avoid change, I try to.

Now it's not like I flip out or bring on the waterworks or anything crazy like that. Change just makes me nervous, unsure and unsettled.

That's probably true for most of us.

We are going to make a big change in our life this week. I'm not sure when it will all unfold but...I'm not too excited about it. I'm very nervous and a little afraid.

Let me tell you how this inevitable change came about...

25 months ago I had a son. He was beautiful and perfect. He was a happy baby and a good baby by most other's standards.

By 1 month we put him in his crib to sleep in his room. Some of you are thinking, "ONE Month?!" Yes, one month. No I am not a horrible mommy, I wanted that baby to sleep in his precious little moses basket that his father bought for me with so much attention and eagerness to please his wife, but nonetheless, what can I say, my child is a crazy sleeper. He hated the moses basket. He needed room to move.

So in his crib he went. He slept like a champ. Sleeping 5 hours in 6 weeks, 8 hours in 8 weeks!

And as I said before, he was a crazy sleeper. He moved so much. For an infant it was pretty impressive. He would start with his head one way and by morning his head was towards the other direction.

He LOVED his bed.

We had few transitions. When he began to roll, he would wake himself and we would go and roll him the other way until he learned to do it himself. This happened again when he began to crawl and then stand and eventually, the transitions were over, he had accomplished so much as a one year old.

For almost a year I have revelled in a full nights sleep. He rarely wakes up in the middle of the night. He enjoys his bed.

This past New Years we were out of town for a week and when we came home, he went to his bed and screamed "BED." Kissed it and went right in and slept from 8:30 to 10:30 the next morning!

Then it happened. I was wondering if it would ever happen and it did.

One afternoon after his nap, he wakes and begins to try to climb out of his crib. He did it was the greatest of ease and finesse. I saw it all on his video monitor and only a matter of seconds he was down. He slowly opened the door and softly calls out my name, ad if he's unsure that waht he did was a good thing.

Well it wasn't a good thing.

Now, at the time of the incident, he was 23 months old, so I was pretty amazed he made it this far, because by nature he is a climber. I have caught him standing on my counter tops and he was able to climb his little rock climbing wall by 15 months so...I was a bit surprised it took him this long, but I'm convinced...he likes his bed.

So, on that fateful afternoon, he climbs out and is so proud of himself. He begs me to put him in bed again so he can show me and proudly states. "Mama, I down!"

He climbs out every morning for a week. He woke up at 6:30 every morning for a week. Believe me, the difference between 6:30 and 7:30 is incredible!

We did not convert his bed because my husband was out of town for the week so we were going to just deal with it and change it when he returned.

Didn't have to...he stopped climbing out. Just plain stopped. I don't know why.

I thought I was lucky. I praised God that we didn't have to change anything.

He would stay in his crib till he was 10! Hallelujah!

And then...
Friday afternoon, April 25, 2008 - He climbed out

Friday night, April 25, 2008, 10:30 pm - He climbed out again.

Saturday Morning, April 26, 2008, 6:30 am - He's down.

Saturday Evening, April 26, 2008, 11:00 pm - Out of bed.

Sunday Morning, April 27, 2008, 3:00 am - out and ready to play.

Sunday Morning, April 27, 2008, 4:00 am - while getting out, falls and mom is awakened by a loud boom and crying.

Sunday Morning, April 27, 2008, 4:30 am - tries to get out again, despite the fall from earlier (he must have been too tired to remember.)

So, needless to say, we are transitioning into a big boy bed starting tomorrow night.

I'm scared. I'm nervous. I need my sleep!
I guess we'll see how it goes...