Current mood: accomplished
Adrian and I have discussed on numerous occasions that Mia is getting big enough to sleep in a big girls bed. The only reason we have delayed the big transition was the fact that I felt she would fall off the bed since she is such a wild sleeper at night. So we delayed it for awhile until I got pregnant.
Due to a pregnancy issue, coupled with the fact my last pregnancy ended in miscarriage my doctor has restricted me to no lifting past 15 lbs. Well that isn't very reasonable since the last time we weighed Mia she was 25! So lifting her has been a challenge, especially lifting her in and out of her crib (her side rail is broken and doesn't lower either). It wasn't so bad at first but recently it has been causing lots of lower stomach pain and strain. So while my Dad watched her for the past two weeks, he has been slowly transitioning her to get used to sleeping in a big bed. Every nap time she slept in my parents bed when she was in Oxnard, and in our guest bed (a full size bed) at our house. After my Dad left a few days ago, I have tried to contiune the trend of her taking naps in the guestroom, however, I have failed miserably. She refuses to settle down and sleep with me. So I end up having to get Adrian to carry her up the stairs and into her room.
Well like I mentioned before, it is now starting to hurt getting her in and out of bed in the mornings (which is the only time Adrian can't help me since he is sleeping (he works overnights)) So something needed to be done... fast!
So we decided to move Adrian's unused spare bed (a full size) from his room into Mia's next door. We figured if we could get her to sleep on the big bed I would no longer have to strain myself getting her in and out of the crib. Infact I wouldn't have to lift her at all in the mornings since I could change her diaper on the bed and I can help guide her down the stairs.
When Adrian moved his bed into her room, he only moved the mattress in, so it would be really low to the floor incase she rolls off of it. Once the bed was in the room, I wasn't sure when exactly we would have her try to sleep in the big bed since we had other issues to consider... ie. where to relocate her night light (that she needs or she cries) where to relocate her radio (which she uses to sleep), and where to line up the bed since I didn't want it near the drafty window or under the ceiling vent. Well in typical Mia fashion... she was the one who called the shots and decided on her own that tonight was the night she would sleep on the big bed!
I wasn't planning on transitioning her tonight, I wanted to see how she would do with a nap first but Mia had other plans. When it was bedtime I had Mia climb the stairs and told her to go into her room. She did, and saw the big bed. Right away she jumped on it and tried to lay down. Uh-oh. I figured I would lay with her for a bit then eventually put her in the crib. Ya, that didn't work.
Eventually I ended up pulling all her stuff out of her crib and laying it on the mattress. The mattress didn't even have a sheet on it yet since it was still in the dryer! (I told you I wasn't prepared). So I went downstairs, grabbed a few more pillows and the blanket from the guestroom bed and went back into her room and tried to fix up her bed. She was having a blast rolling around but she couldn't quite get comfortable. I was laying on it too and I couldn't either... not without a sheet on the mattress. So there lie my dilemma. Should I go get the sheet from the dyer and put it on, and risk waking her up more? or should I let her sleep on the mattress (wich had a cotton cover on it). Sure enough I couldn't stand the thought of her sleeping on mattress so I left again, grabbed the sheet and went back into her room. Of course Mia perked up and went nuts watching me put the sheet on. She wouldn't calm down again and was rolling everywhere.
Then I began to feel hungry. Uh-oh! For anyone who has been pregnant knows once you feel hungry you only have a tiny window to hurry up and eat or you end up getting really sick. If that wasn't bad enough I also had to use the restroom really bad. I was kicking myself for not going before putting Mia to bed but I didn't think I would be in her room this long. Finally I couldn't wait any longer and I bailed on Mia who wasn't happy. I promised her I would be back. So I went downstairs, ate a quick banana and used the restroom. When I came back she was waiting quietly for me. I laid back down with her.
Whenever I showed signs of wanting to get up she would sit right up push me back down and gentally touch my eyes so I would close them. I knew then I was trapped. She contiuned to roll around and not get comfortable. I was getting tired myself and the banana I ate wasn't cutting it, I was feeling hungry again. What to do?! So I finally decided that I would just have to leave. I quietly told Mia to lay down and go to sleep but once I got up she did too, ran over to her rocking chair and started rocking herself. She kept trying to get me to laugh with her little smirk and she was even making her funny hand noises, but I still had to go. I told her I would check up on her in a short while and I left her as is, in the room and closed the door. However, I didn't shut it all the way. I didn't think she would notice since it was dark, plus I wanted to be able to spy on her in a few mins.
So I went downstairs, fed the cat and went to the kitchen and drank some Lemonade. I was only gone for maybe 2 mins max. I couldn't hear her over the baby monitor so I thought I would check up on her really fast. I really wanted to see if she crawled back into bed. I started walking up the stairs and about midway I started hearing this thump.... thump... thump! I wondered what that sound was and in an instant I recognized it! That sound was her coming down the stairs!!!! ALONE!!! and in the DARK! OMG! I was just about to run up the stairs (our stairs are split into two sections) but before I could she turned the corner and stood there on the middle plateu! MIA!!! I thanked God that she didn't go tumbling since she has never gone down the stairs unsupervised EVER! and only today was I teaching her how to use the hand rail. She stood there shocked to find me the same way I was shocked to find her. She raised her hands for me to pick her up and I did.. my heart racing at "what could have happened". I took her back to the room and laid her back on the bed and laid down with her.
She still wouldn't get comfy and rolled around more and more. Eventually she stood up and went back to the rocking chair to play. Thats when I threw in the towel. I give up! I started putting things back into her crib and right away Mia started to cry. She knew what was going to happen next. I took her off the rocking chair and place her in her crib. She blew up BIG TIME!!!! She was so upset. She didn't want to be in her crib, she wanted the big bed. So I took everything back out, including her, and placed it back on the bed. This time she stayed put and laid on the bed.
Eventually I started to get hungry again and it had already been 2 hours since we started this adventure. Mia was laying there, facing away from me. I was really hoping she would fall asleep before I left. Then I noticed she started to breathe heavier and stopped moving around and playing with her blanket. Could it be? Could this finally be the moment I've waited 2 hours for?! Is she finally asleep?! I started to feel relieved and happy all a once. Finally!!!!... my little munchkin was asleep and just like that her foot popped up in the air!!! ARGH! She tricked me again! She wasn't sleep. Thats when I decided it was time to give Mia her final test. So I kissed her goodnight and left the room, leaving her laying in the bed. I haven't heard anything through the monitor yet and I have yet to check on her... infact I think I will now since its already been 30 mins.... be right back
SUCCESS!!!!! She is sound asleep on one side of the bed!!! Yay! My baby is a big girl now!! I am so proud of her. Hopefully the rest of the night will go smoothly. Wish me luck... now its time for me to EAT!
*********** UPDATE ***************
Well I stayed up alittle later after I finished this blog and ate. Eventually I went to bed, but of course not before checking on Mia. I quietly opened the door and found her sleeping peacefully in her big bed. I was happy to see that. I then grabbed the camera and took one quick picture before leaving. I was afraid the flash would wake her up but it didn't. I slowly closed the door and left. I was putting my camera down on the top of the stairwell then I heard...
THUMP!!!!!!!
I knew that sound, she had fallen out of the bed. I quickly went to her door. I could hear a tiny whimper coming from inside her room. I opened the door and I found that she had climbed right back into bed and was falling back to sleep. She didn't see me so I closed the door. I felt really happy that even though she had fallen she did not fully wake up, cry, or anything AND she got back into bed herself. I felt pretty confident that the night would go smoothly.... WRONG!!!
I was only asleep for alittle over an hour before I was quickly awaken by one of my famous night terrors. I get them all the time so that was nothing new. After I calmed down I got comfortable again and was just about to fall back to sleep when I heard...
BAM!!!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
I jumped out of bed!!! Mia was screaming hysterically. I knew she had fallen out of bed but I couldn't understand why she was crying so hard. I thought maybe she had scared herself or something. I ran to her room and she was standing there on the floor crying her little heart out. I quickly scooped her up into my arms and attempted to console her. I sat on her bed and quietly calmed her down. Eventually she caught her breath and noticed the bed and drove back into it and started to fall asleep again. I rubbed her head a bit and after she was back to sleep I went back to bed but not before reinforcing the ground with pillows and putting more pillow all around her.
The rest of the night was quiet. I was woken at 9:30am by my cell phone going off. I decided to check on Mia before returning the call. I slowly opened her door and found her awake, quietly laying on her bed playing with her blanket. She was so happy to see me and went nuts. I let her play around a bit in her room before we officially started our morning.
I later helped her walk down the stairs, changed her diaper and was in the kitchen ready to prepare her breakfast when I noticed something. There was a HUGE bruise on her forehead!!! OH-NO!!!! It was from that fall she took last night. Turns out she hit her head on the rocking chair on the way down... poor baby!!!! She seemed ok and the bruise didn't seem to bother her though it is definately the worst bruise she has ever had! Well I guess it just means she earned her badge of honor last night haha
So now we will see how tonight goes. I had Adrian rearrange the room a bit so she has 2 walls against her bed and her crib (which is a make-shift 3rd wall). Hopefully this will help her not fall out of bed. I also put pillows all around just in case she does and now the rocking chair is on the other side of the room. We will see how it goes
