Big Boy Bed...

So it's like this... Sebastian has the ability to climb out of his crib if he wanted to, and so we thought it would be a good time to start thinking about a "big boy bed" so we'd be prepared and didn't have to just buy the first bed we saw because he really needed one to sleep on, like right now...

I found a really cute toddler bed on Craigslist and completed my first Craigslist transaction without getting hacked to tiny pieces by a crazy person, so I was pretty pleased.

Last weekend, I put the bed together while Sebastian napped. He got up from his nap, saw his new bed in the living room, and tried to lie down on the frame even though it had no mattress. He couldn't quite figure out how that was going to work, so he kept saying, "Mommy, help Sebas!" It was precious. Really.

We moved the bed up into his room for bedtime, and figured, what the heck, we'll give it a try. Well, it didn't go quite as smoothly as we'd hoped and planned. The bedtime "routine" took several timeouts so we could remember that we don't jump on the new bed. We read our stories, said our prayers, and got all tucked in. Then Mommy left the room and Sebas was alone with his big boy bed.

(Shortly after we put them on the doorknobs, Sebastian took the door knob covers off his bedroom door. We haven't done anything about that yet. We need to.)

With the "Big Boy Bed" comes freedom - and Sebastian took full advantage of it. He tried to escape his room (I foiled that plan, as I saw it coming). I asked him if he wanted to sleep in his crib and he said no, so I told him that he had to go lie down on his bed. He jumped on the bed a lot (I didn't go in to do anything about it, because I figured he was going to be going to sleep soon). We did not remove his bookcase from him room. This was a mistake. There are four shelves filled with books. Correction. There were four shelves filled with books. They are now on the floor. Every. Single. Book.

Some of the books escaped when Sebastian shoved them under his door, out into the hallway.

Some of the books were slightly damaged, when "Sebas rip it" happened. Favorite books, including "The Minnesota Twins from A to Z."

The best books, however, were read. We sat outside Sebastian's room and listened to him reading "No, David!" He was getting very excited as he said "No, David" on every page and explained the pictures.

Now, I'm two classes away from getting a Master's degree in reading. We read to Sebastian every single day. And I know that the day is probably coming when he's not going to want to read a book on his own. And the day will probably come when he won't have the time to read a book for pleasure. But, he's 2 1/2. He can't really read yet. And he needs some sleep. (Plus, Mommy and Daddy need some sleep, too.)

After about 2 1/2 hours of listening to him jumping on the bed, reading books, and playing with his toys, we went in. We put the mattress back in the crib, and that is where he will sleep until we can try it again this weekend. But first, I need to find a place for the books and the toys, because I clearly didn't have that part thought through very well.