TaDa

It was a Saturday afternoon. Nathan was sitting on the couch in the living room, and I was in our office. All of the sudden, Lauren walks downstairs and says "Ta Da.....I did it!!" I hear Nathan reply, "you did what? Where is mommy?" And, I reply, "I'm in here." In here was also downstairs. Instantly, Nathan and I both knew that Ta Da meant that she was now climbing out of her crib by herself.

I asked her to show me her new trick, and this is what she did....



The days that followed were painful. She was showing up in the middle of the night, and up for the day at 6:30 or 7. Her usual wake up time was around 8. Going down for naps and bedtime did not change. Thankfully, she stayed in her bed.

I'll be honest, I was not ready to go to a big girl bed, and was feeling frustrated because I felt I was forced to move her now. I was having a conversation with my brother and he said, "the girls never crawled out of their bed because we just didn't allow it." That was my light bulb moment. That night, I told Lauren, "Lauren, you are not allowed to crawl out of your crib anymore. If you do, I will have to lock your door at night." She just looked at me with big eyes. I then said, "I can't wait to see you in the morning, but you must stay in your bed until the sunshine is shining through your window." She said, "okay" and she has not crawled out of her bed again.

I'll be honest. I couldn't believe it. I don't have to rush to figure out what bedding to buy, if I want to paint her room, or what size bed do I want. I'm still looking, but I'm in no rush. The few weeks of Ta Da were actually pretty funny. She was so darn proud of herself. It was just the 3:30 am Ta Das that were not so fun!!!