Big Girl & Big Boy Beds!

Gabriel & Ariana are growing up (tear*). This month, we moved them into their "big boy" and "big girl" beds from their cribs, and we added some decorative touches to their room to help spark their excitement. They had been just fine in their cribs; neither one outgrowing the length or attempting to climb out, but I just felt it was time to hit the milestone. And since they are knocking on the door of their 3 year birthdays, we went ahead.

Gabe got car sheets and a baseball jersey-style duvet. We finally put up his stars and planets that Papa Starr gave him a loooong time ago. And we put up his alphabet wall decals, which he calls his "letter factory". He still insists on sleeping with all of his crib blankets too, so I have no worries about him getting too cold at night.

Ariana got rose-patterned sheets and a paisley butterfly duvet. We got her some bright pink felt butterfly wall decals as well as mirrored butterfly decals.

Gabe has been giving us quite a bit of trouble now that he's in his big bed, by getting up several times a night (and sometimes during nap) to play in the playroom, come downstairs, and surprise us in our bed. It has been quite frustrating. I even lock him in his room, but he knows how to unlock the door (even in the dark) and walk right out again. He sometimes is caught when I hear Ariana wake up screaming, because he appeared in her room and woke her up. So far (after about a week and a half of big boy bed), nothing has gotten him to just stay put, and he's been getting to sleep at around 11 pm as a result. The closest thing that comes to keeping him in is threatening to put him in his crib (which is still in his room, assembled), but the one time I actually followed through on my threat, he climbed/fell out of the crib. Needless to say, I think we may be adjusting for a little while to come.

After about 3 nights of hysterical crying (she probably thought we forgot to put her in her crib), Ari has settled into her big girl bed really well. She loves to snuggle with me before bed (Gabe snuggles with Daddy), and she gets really happy when I point out her butterflies. Gabe tells her that the butterflies "came to visit [her]". Some times, Ari is a little too excited to be in her big bed, and we hear her banging her headboard against the wall or throwing her blinds around while she looks out her window. Both beds have extra-long bed rails so there is hardly any danger of the kids falling out to the side, but one night, after we made the bed, we forgot to push Ari's bed clear up against the wall, and there was about a 1 ft. space between the bed and the wall. We found Ari in the morning sleeping on a pillow (she took with her?) in the crack between the bed and the wall. It was so sad. She was sleeping very peacefully, and when we woke her, she was all smiles, but it just made my heart sink. We just keep that bed smooshed against the wall now.

Well, it's been fun, frustrating, exciting, scary, and most of all, new. But isn't that what growing up is all about?