Big Boy Bed

Two weeks ago we finished the bunk beds for the boys' room. We spent a few days just playing on the beds during the day and then one night we decided to make the transition for Mason to sleep in his new big boy bed. The first couple of nights it took him a lot longer to fall asleep, but other than that he has transitioned really well. He was worried the first night that he might fall out, and he was worried about "boy B" and "girl B" falling out too. They all survived the first night, except for "girl B", but I think she might have gotten thrown out of the bed before he fell asleep. ;)


This was a bit of a bittersweet milestone for me. We have so much peace (& excitement!) about adopting an older child, but it was a little sad to disassemble the crib and put it in storage. I'm sure we will need it again one day, but I wasn't really prepared for the tears I would shed for seeing that emblem of the baby stage leave our home for now. We had a little bouncy party in it the morning we took it down. Mason loved jumping in his crib so I put him in it one last time and let him go to town. The squeals and giggles sure helped the transition for mommy.


Mason was a little worried when he saw us taking it apart. He kept saying "you breakin' my bed?" And we would tell him, "no, we are just taking it apart so you'll have more room to play." He responded, "You breakin' my bed apart." He refused to give up the "breakin'" descriptor. He was breakin' my heart.


The first night the crib was gone he told me, "I need to sleep in my little bed. I'm not big." Another dagger to my heart. I reassured him about how cool his big boy bed is and he seemed more content. But my thoughts were swept away to the day we came home from the hospital. I remember walking into our home in Charlotte for the first time as a family of three and not long after, laying him in his crib in our room for the first time. He was so tiny. Such a little boy in a big bed. A short 18 months later, that little baby seemed to take up a good portion of his bed, and all of a sudden it didn't look so big.


Its so bittersweet how quickly we hop from one stage to the next. It seems like he filled up that "big" bed over night.


But the other day, I peeked in his room near the end of nap time. As I looked in and once again saw a little boy in a big bed, my heart was mended. There's something about him being swallowed up by his "big boy bed" that makes me realize how small he still is. No, you're not big buddy.


There are so many new big boy bed things that I enjoy too. The way he petitions Jeremy to let me sleep in his bed with him, or when he holds my hand tighter as I say good night so I can't walk away quite yet. I love climbing in his bed in the morning and snuggling with him as we wake up and start our day. I'm starting to think this big boy bed will do just fine.

I'm so thankful for the extra special way that little boys love their mommies. I'm his girl.