A transition for Mommy and Noah

You can read all the books you want about parenting, but nothing takes the cake like actually experiencing it hands on.  Noah is going to be 2 on Sunday and even though we have had 2 years of experiance...thats nothing.  This past weekend we decided to redo his room as his birthday present.  We got him a really cool car bed and decided to go with a transportation theme seeing as he loves all things that go.  I spent alot of time looking online for ideas as well as finding the right accessories to make it fun and stylish at the same time for him.  With all that said, I forgot to research on how the transition from crib to bed was going to affect him.  I guess I didn't think it was all that big of a deal.  When he was younger, we could do whatever we want to his room, take him where ever and not really have to explain it to him because he didn't understand.  My how times have changed.  As he is getting older, he is understanding way more then I think most "almost 2 years old" do.  Our whole idea was to surprise him with his new "big boy" bedroom, but after reading about it, they say thats not the best way to go.  Well thats what did...surprised him.

Mike and I picked up Noah from my parents Sunday afternoon, took him to lunch and then went home.  He was exhausted so we decided we were going to just put him down in his bed seeing as he was sleeping (why we didn't just let him sleep for a little bit I don't know)  Well as I put him down, the mattress sank through the bed and on the floor....great!  This freaked him out and he started to cry.  I tried to rub his back but he wasn't having it.  Then he sat up, looked around his room and looked terrified....like "where the hell am I?"  I felt horrible, I mean this was supposed to be fun and exciting, not traumatizing.  I took him out of his room, turned the light on, and told him we have a surprise for him.  He walked into his room and was so excited to see all his new stuff.  He played for a while as Mike and I took measurements for wood to support the mattress.  The poor kid was exhausted so we tried alittle later to put him down for a nap (even though it was way past nap time)  Noah was not having the nap.  Mike want in to comfort him, then I did, then we both did.  Eventually we gave up because it was getting late and we didn't want to jinx it for ourselves later that night.

Bed time came around and we kept the routine the same, just like the books and fellow parent friends suggested to us.  He was out cold in less then a half hour and slept right through the night.  The next morning I went to get him and he was still laying in bed, wide awake and just laying there.  It was adorable.  Noah is the most laid back, easy going kid I know.  Everything we do with him (well for the most part) he is very adaptable too.  I thought my lack of research to get him ready for this transition, was going to make is very difficult for him. I have heard horror stories of children who just wont stay in their bed making it a horror for the parents....somtimes taking them a few hours to get the kid to stay in their bed and go to sleep.   But he did great.  Lets hope it stays that way.

It is hard to believe, the little baby we took home from the hospital is sleeping in a BED!  No more crib!  I guess this is just the beginning of realizing he really is growing up.