Munchkin the Big Girl

For the past week, we have been getting things ready to move Munchkin to a new room that is just a little farther away than her current one. With Baby #2 on the way, we need to keep the room with the crib available for the child that will need it. We have been painting, getting decor ready, as well as picking up items like a bed rail so that Munchkin won't fall out of the twin bed in there.

We have let Munchkin see the room quite a bit, and she loves it. I don't know if it is the novelty of having another space to roam in, or if she is just super gullible and believes that our excited tone every time we say, "new room" has worked like some form of endorphin-releasing trigger, but either way, we are happy that she is happy.

Saturday night we actually picked up the bed rail and decided to see if Munchkin would be game to sleep there. We asked her if she wanted to, and she gave us the customary answer (Uh-huh with a quick head nod). We were so a bit anxious to see if she would go through with it. I had thoughts of our little girl growing up.

And then we had one of those dinners.

If you don't know what I'm eluding to, either

1. You have never had a toddler.
2. You don't remember the mess your toddler can make at dinner.
3. You have never heard the word toddler before.

Munchkin was eating some yogurt. We have been trying to teach her that yogurt isn't just a great tasting line of skincare products. She tends to get a large glob on her spoon and then place it on her left hand and start to rub it around. We looked away for one moment to go refill a water cup or take a bite. When we turned back, we both were amazed at what we saw.

From this silent little girl (things like this always happen when kids are silent if you fall into option 3 above), we saw a creature emerge. There was yogurt on her hands and in her hair. We made the mistake of saying that we don't put yogurt in our hair, which prompted a yogurt-laden hand to immediately travel up to her hair to point to it.

Needless to say, after dinner Munchkin was put into the tub for bath number two of the day.

After bathtime, she was right back to her big self. When bedtime came, we walked right up to her room, gave her a binky and her monkey, laid her down after saying our customary things to psych her up (like Sleep all night and such). We walked out the door after blowing kisses and waving, and she didn't make a peep.

I had to go back in a few hours later because her head and torso were hanging off the edge of the bed while her legs were preventing her from falling out of the bed. At least the rail works.

She slept until 5:00AM, when she started to wake up and, feeling a bit disoriented in her new surroundings, had her eyes wide open when I walked in. I laid with her and got her a drink, and she ended up falling asleep.

With that said, I think that she did pretty well. She took a good nap in the bed today, and went right down again tonight. There haven't been any more attempts to skydive from the mattress, which I consider a success. There are plenty creative sleeping angles going on (like perpendicular to her pillow), but that will probably work itself out in time. In the mean time, I am just hoping that she'll continue to do as well as she is doing and sleep all night tonight.

Keep your fingers crossed...