transition part three: we actually made the transition.

today marks two weeks since our little man has transitioned from his crib to a toddler bed.  to say that he has done well is an understatement. i was preparing for the worst and things have actually gone really smoothly.

i spent most of the day on thursday getting his room prepped and cleaned and ready to go.  we talked about it night after night and encouraged him wednesday night that it was his last night in a baby bed.  he was so excited for his big boy bed. (i love watching the excitement in a little one's eyes. exploring and learning new things. it is pretty amazing.)

 

i just love this room. so. much.

you cannot even see the dropcam hidden up there.  funny thing though... sometimes i swear he's looking right at me through that camera!

(p.s. spider man looks creepy. good thing he's down from there now. creeper.)

we used two of the shelves in his wardrobe to store his paper books.  you know, the ones that he has to read while we're with him or are actually read to him? or else they'd be ripped to shreds! this boy has so many books. so many.

 

that piggy bank is signed by the lovely ladies that attended my baby shower :)

new canvas bins from target. love.

my mom made these lanterns for his room.  the bulbs have since gone out on all of them (of course) but they still look nice hanging in his closet space!

the lightening bug (led lights) solar powered jar is from fransesca's, the globe nightlight from the land of nod and the little dino nightlight is from target. that little jar is the cutest.

gotta love those anthropolgie letter hooks. gotta love pretty much anything and everything anthropologie!

jackson picked the orange blanket and the "roar" pillow for his big boy bed.  so many mismatched colors and patterns in this room, especially on his bed. but i kind of love it.

i took a little video as he discovered his "new" room.  he is really in love with it. so excited to get in his new bed...immediately!

this was taken way before bedtime... he wanted to lay in his new bed..."i love my big boy bed!"

he honestly did a really amazing job.  we kept the same bedtime routine and didn't change anything other than reading him stories next to his bed (instead of in the rocking chair).  the first night, he got in and out of his bed, played with the chalk, picked out about 30 books from the bookshelf, played with the humidifier, and came to the door twice.  he looked like he had just been given freedom and wanted to see it all! and i suppose its kind of true... and he wanted to check it all out.  since that night, he hasn't gotten out of bed more than a handful of times, doesn't try to leave his room, stays in bed in the morning until we come and get him, plays in his bed until he falls asleep. just like he used to.  it has worked. what a little man we have!

here's the list of what we did to get ready (i talked about our planning for this, here) and things that really worked. i'm glad i wrote all of this down to help me eventually with the next kid. (whenever that may be!)

•  planning a transition date with "recovery time" - although we did this, he surprised us both and did really, really well the entire weekend so we didn't really need much "recovery".  what a good boy!
• baby gate - we did put a baby gate outside of his bedroom door, just in case.  he hasn't tried to leave his room but i like knowing there is a gate there, for safety purposes!
• rewards - the next morning, we gave jackson a new cup and some stickers as a reward for doing such a good job.  he was more excited about his spider man stickers than anything.  such a simple and inexpensive reward. and totally kid-approved!
• keeping the same bedtime routine - seems like this worked like a charm!
• baby-proofing - we removed the rocking chair and changing table to discourage climbing.  we still need to secure the toy-box  little better but there is more work involved than we originally though so this will have to be a weekend project with some help.  we covered all outlets and made sure all chords were tucked away as best as they could be. also, we may turn his doorknob around to keep him from accidentally locking himself in.
• removing/rearranging toys - we sorted through all of the toys, packed some away and really cleaned out his closet shelves to store the toys that we wanted to leave out.  he has yet (did i just jinx it?!) to attempt to get any toys out (other than that first night).

so now that i've written a novel, i'm happy to report that the transition to a toddler bed has been a complete success!  and now i am feeling pretty confident about our upcoming vacation in july and not using our pack-n-play.  since he's outgrown it, it is nice to know that he can actually sleep well (and be well-behaved!!) when not sleeping in a crib.  i am so proud of that little guy.

(i almost forgot... our only "fun" experience with this transition so far - taking his pj's and diaper off.  3 days in a row last week. so far (knock on wood) nothing this week. but. doesn't mean it won't happy again... i think daddy caught him early enough last night before the diaper actually came off! potty training right around the corner? maybe?!)

jackson quincy - daddy and i are so proud of you and you are such a good boy.  we're so glad you are getting to be such a big boy but don't feel like you need to grow up too fast! ;)