Babies Out, Big Kids In

There are no more babies in the Wilson house.  Until last week, Anna and Kara were still sleeping in cribs.  Granted, the cribs had been turned into "toddler beds," but they were still basically the same beds they've had since birth.  Anna especially was getting too big for her little crib mattress, so it was time to upgrade.  Now, they are in their "big kid" beds and loving it.

Newly assembled beds.

First night in the new beds.

It felt like a right of passage and was a little sad for me.  We had to make the decision whether or not to keep Kara's crib and our changing table.  Anna's had been recalled, so we knew we had to trash it.  It was one of the dreaded drop-sides, which didn't actually matter for the toddler bed conversion, since the drop side was removed.  But, that meant we couldn't sell it and we didn't feel comfortable giving it away.  Kara's bed was still in relatively good shape.  It definitely looked the best of the cribs.  And, we had the instructions and all the hardware, something that couldn't be said for the other two.  Ultimately, both the crib and the changing table found their way to a nice home and we both feel good about that decision.

While we are on the subject of beds, sometimes Jack feels a little lonely that he is the only person in our family who doesn't have a friend in his room (his words).  I am sure when he is older he will see this for the huge benefit it is, but in his 4-year-old mind, it is currently just sad.  When we were assembling Anna and Kara's beds he was hoping something would break so that they would have to sleep in his room.  Of course, the beds didn't break.  Jack then asked Thomas if he would have a sleepover with him.  Thomas gave him a vague answer and assumed Jack would forget about it.  That night, we put them to bed at their usual time (around 8).  Thomas was surprised when Jack asked when he would be coming to bed.  Thomas said that if Jack was still awake when he went to bed that maybe he would sleep in his room with him.

We both assumed that Jack would fall asleep and watched the Red Box movie we had rented.  When the movie ended, Thomas went to check on Jack and he was still awake!  He had laid in bed for almost 2 hours, just waiting.  He was so quiet, we had no idea he was awake.  Both Thomas and I felt terrible!  After that, there was no way that Thomas could say no.  So, he put on his pajamas, got his pillow, and went to Jack's room for the night.  Fortunately, Jack has a bunk bed, so there was plenty of room for Thomas to sleep (he took the bottom bunk, Jack took the top).  Jack was so excited, he talked nonstop for about 20 minutes.  Then, they decided to watch the Lego Star Wars cartoon, just to make it an extra special night.  Of course, Anna and Kara had been asleep for hours by this time.

After that, I went to bed.  Thomas said it was close to midnight before Jack finally fell asleep.  He loved having his Dad in there with him.  He just talked and talked.  When my sister's family was here for Christmas, my nephew, JD, slept in the room with Jack.  He lamented that Jack talked too much and JD didn't care for the sleeping arrangements.  After their night together, Thomas can certainly relate!  For all the nights he lays there quietly with no one to talk to, I think it just all builds up.  Regardless, it was very sweet and Thomas did spend the entire night in Jack's room.  Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the two of them that night.