Climbing Out
Two nights ago... Cole and I went to put Tessa to bed just like we always do, and without any warning at all, just after we placed her into her crib, with a big silly grin on her face, Tessa grabs the top bar, hoists her leg up to the top rail, and pulled herself up and over. She was halfway over the side as effortless as standing up. I look over at Cole: "Uhhh, that's bad right?"
and with that. With no big fanfare, and completely out of nowhere Tessa got a big girl bed. Cole converted it from crib to toddler bed in minutes. We stood there for a second and looked at one another and sighed. "So, that's it? She just sleeps in a bed now?" Cole explained: "That's the rule, they say when they climb out, you put them in a bed."
So we put Tessa into her new bed. Told her how it all worked. Said good night. And that was that. She has been sleeping in a bed for 2 nights now with no issue.
"Isn't this supposed to be a big deal?" I just kept asking Cole this the rest of the night. We stayed up pretty late listening for any thumps in the night from her falling out. Nothing. Just quiet. It was a neat feeling to have something so simple feel so huge, it finally settled into my bones and just became normal. Tessa sleeps in a bed now, this is what she does. It was a little piece of light as to how I am going to feel when she walks out of this house to go out on her own. All of the sudden I saw a list in my head of things she doesn't need us for, and I scratched this one thing off of it. She doesn't need us to come rescue her from her crib when she wakes up. Just a week ago I woke up to her little voice calling out "daddy" so I would come and get her. Now. She just gets up.
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39 comments:
This is a beautiful post
xxxx
I love how she so excitedly showed you and Cole her readiness for a big girl bed. I bet she'd been planning it all day. ;-)
wow, she's a cutie!
I never used a crib with my 2 girls. they always just slept in bed, no problems.
soon, she'll be making you breakfast in bed!
Yep, bittersweet huh? I can't believe how time accelerates once you have a child. It seems like I just had my boy, yet he's starting kindy next fall! Its almost like I can feel his childhood slowly slipping through my fingers like sand (through an hourglass...). Enjoy.
wait until she toddles out in the morning on her own - such a shock the first time they do this - whoa, independence, slow down!
I will never forget the morning I woke up thinking there was an intruder in the house. Instead, it was just my toddler who had secretly been climbing out of her crib to start a movie, and climbing back in to watch!
My favorite memory of the crib days is that huge smile the second they see you in the doorway. Oh how I miss those days!
letting go is a process all throughout our children's life… they can't learn to walk if we always hold their hand.
it's a poignant reminder that they aren't really ours, but what a blessing to be part of something bigger than ourselves. the blessing of pouring your heart, soul, DNA, love, values {and junk we just can't help but toss in there too} and see what wonders will come.
she's sleeping in a big girl bed. dang. she was just born yesterday!
ah, how sweet. our two youngest climbed out at 18 months & 16 months. we tried turning their cribs into beds, but it was a nightmare. so we got crib tents. at that early age, they wouldn't stay in bed. the tents worked & thy ended up liking them. our smallest is 2.5 & she won't let us take it out.
That's awesome, my little guy is 16 months and we keep waiting for him to scale the side, he is so active. Does she sleep with a duvet and things? I wasn't sure when that is supposed to start and I'm not asking our pediatrician. She is horrified that we give our little guy pizza that isn't whole grain...
How cool. Little B is a few months younger than Tessa and we are trying to figure out this whole crib to bed transition too. Glad to see that it can be a relatively smooth process. Thanks for posting.
just yesterday my 20 month old grabbed my purse and my keys, and said " see you mama." gave me a kiss, and walked toward the front door and proceeded to try and open it. well, it was locked and after minutes of watching her jiggle the handle i decided to get up and open the door. she waltzed down the street like she knew she had somewhere to go. sigh. i guess we all better get used to it.
We had the same experience with Jack. No ceremony, just "whoa, I guess it's time for this. Alright." I wish potty training was as seamless...
wow, she's looking more and more like Cole everyday.... those leg muscles come from her mama i bet!
I'm constantly listening for thumps. My 4 and 3 year olds both fall out of their beds all. the. time. Even when I had rails up, somehow they'd scoot past them and fall out. It's almost a normal occurrence now. I head upstairs and put them back in lol
I burst into tears reading this. How special! My daughter is turning 2 next week and I'm desperately clinging to her babyhood. She is still in a crib as she hasn't tried to climb out yet. But, she sleeps in a sleep-sack so she can't really put her leg up and over if she wanted to. So, maybe she can and I don't know it? I can't keep up with how fast the growth happens. Just when I get the hang of one stage she's in, suddenly she is supposed to be doing "older" things than I am ready for. It started with solid food, then fork/spoon, then cup (which she STILL hasn't mastered), and now it's pretending, talking, big-girl bed, potty training, etc. sigh. Wistful. I'm wistful.
@mayyoke- Why can't she get those legs from me? Have you seen my legs? They are pretty impressive.
this picture is amazing!
i wrote in a book i keep for my girl that i can almost see her grow and my boy is already 5, no idea when it happend!
i read this article once (and started to cry ;))that every step in your child's development gives you a pang of nostalgia.
life's too fast sometimes.
Yeah we recently did that with our boy. And we even put on that short railing, that only covers half the crib. And the first friggin night, he fell right out of the bed and landed on his head. Shook the whole house.
I showed my daughter this picture and she said, "TT!" (that's what we call her). She apparently thinks it's a picture of herself. She looks so big in her big girl bed.
@Amanda- Ha! That is what WE call her all the time. Cole started it. So funny.
Aw! My dad swears that half of the time, he looks at me, and I'm still a tiny girl. Like that insurance commercial with the dad giving his little girl a lecture as she prepares to drive off in the car, and as he looks at her, she's like 5 instead of 16. It can be frustrating to always be someone's baby, but it's also incredibly comforting.
the first morning after my daughter graduated to a big girl bed, I woke up to the sound of her toddling down the hallway. I kept my eyes shut until she came in the room, leaned close to my face and whispered "time to bake up now, mama!" it's still one of my favorite memories of her.
It's crazy how when you become a parent, the littlest things instantly become the biggest and most important to you! Love this!
Wow. I don't have any such heart-warming stories, but I did hear my 19-month-old say "Fuck!" in the laundry room the other day and I came running in to see that he'd dumped the dog's water dish all over his socks. I was impressed that he at least used the word in a proper context.
This just broke my heart a little bit..
Why don't we see a comparison post on whose legs Tessa inherited. Haha. I wish every life transition was as simple as Tessa's move from crib to big girl bed!
Oh My god, how fast they grow...I'm a little gobsmacked!
Tessa is Ryan's girl clone, including the legs. LB was so lucky to have the legs that I wore as a child, STICKS. My brother would ask me how I even walked on those things.
oh this is excellent! How fortunate you are to have amazing photos to document the event! My little one has just moved into a big boy bed also... quickly followed by a 'ripping wallpaper straight from the wall' incident! Oh, the joys :)
It really is the little things:)
How you manage to write with simultaneous gentleness and strength is such a gift.
You guys are amazing! lovely photo of Tessa, and congratulations. it took me weeks to get my bee to sleep in her bed.
I love it when something that is "supposed" to be a big deal turns out to be barely a blip on the radar. All of my kids didn't bat an eye when I took their cribs down. There was no adjustment period. I was amazed! I've heard that it can be a rather traumatic experience for the child.
PS....she's adorable.
This nearly had me tear up. I've been following your blog for a while, and it's so fun to see someone else's take on milestones my own will have before I know it, seeing as my daughter is a little younger than Tessa. It's exciting. I nearly died just having to lower her mattress. I can't imagine the day we'll remove the whole side!
Beautiful, wonderful words and photos. I love realizing that my soul is so happy directly after visiting your blog.
A little teary reading this. My 4 month old has just started her babbling and I am realizing how very quick it will all change.
Thank you.
I find it utterly baffling that my own daughter, who I think is a few months Tessa's senior, is a maniacal climber of furniture in the house. She's lept off of tall couches, tables, high chairs (oof, ER visit, sleepless night, and CT scan later - everything checked out just fine thankyouverymuch)... BUT she has never even come close to climbing out of the crib. My son, who never sent us to the ER, climbed out when he was about 14 months. So daughter is still in a crib at 2 years 1 month and showing no signs of needing a change, but my son got a toddler bed at 14 months and a full twin for his 2nd birthday. Hmph. Kids are wierd.
It's crazy how fast all this happens. Why do I feel like I'm in an episode of Quantum Leap and my son just keeps growing faster, out of the bounds of normal kids, to a point where I won't recognize him anymore. Crazy. -charlie
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