The Great Crib Escape

I've said it before and I'll say it again, almost-2 and just-past-4 are really wonderful ages to parent. The girls play well together most of the time, they aren't as wobbly as they once were but not quite as daring as they will be so mortal danger is not such a pervasive worry (slightly).

And they sleep.


Oh, I know, other parents have sleepers from day one... or month three... or whatever. I did not.

Maya still wakes up at some point each night to crawl in bed with us, though it doesn't even rouse us anymore. Elliot has slept uninterrupted since January, most nights anyway. Both are early risers, usually waking around 7, but they go to bed around 8 without much resistance, giving us entire evenings to enjoy ourselves.


Of course we know this easy-going stage can't last for long. Elliot is almost 2, and she's a big almost 2 (95% in height and 75% in weight, when we last checked). The big kid bed will be necessary pretty soon, and then all naptime and bedtime rituals veer precariously off kilter.

When we transitioned Maya, weeks of bedtimes were spent listening to her banging on the (locked... I'm a little sheepish to say) bedroom door. Or listening to the eery quiet in her bedroom and wondering what project she was working on. Once we found her covered, head to nearly ruined carpet, in Vaseline. Another time we couldn't get in the room to check on her, as she had fallen asleep right in front of the door, like a kitten.

For a time, we had lost our evenings again.

Ugh.

I was hoping to put it off until this fall, but earlier this week, we heard something we've been listening for since she started walking last July.

THUNK. Followed by a panicky wail.

She attempted a jail break, and it ended poorly. Not emergency room poorly; it was just a typical goose-egg-type fall.

Thankfully, the THUNK made an impression on her. Before tucking her in, I now reminder her, "Don't climb out or you'll get another owie." To which she responds, "I fall doooown. My owie stiwl hewts." (a.k.a. still hurts in Elle-ish).

We might be able to ride this wave of calm, patterned sleep for a while, but the Big Girl Bed looms before us. One more thunk, or the next family birthday, and we'll be there, where once again all bets are off... for a time.