toddler bed.

Today after I put Nate down in his crib for his nap, I kept hearing strange noises. Bumps and muffled cries, followed by slams. Surely, I thought that either he had unleashed a herd of elephants or was jumping in his bed. All of a sudden, the door to his room started to shake and you hear a voice scream "knock, knock!!".  Little booger had scaled the side of his crib and gotten out!

After some soul searching, we decided to bite the bullet and convert his bed to a toddler bed. Of course, this involves removing the front panel and replacing it with something infinitely smaller. Okay, yes that's an exaggeration, but not by much for a mother with a little boy running around.

A HUGE 'thank you' to my Dad and my husband for putting this together tonight! Even though Chris mistakenly grabbed the wrong piece at first, they got it done before Nate fell apart needing to go to sleep!

When it came time to put him down, which I was dreading, Nate surprised me like he always does. He went to bed without a whimper or even getting out of bed to explore. Granted, it's only midnight, but I couldn't have asked for an easier go-to-sleep moment.

I know I am a bit neurotic with the camera sometimes, but here is a picture of Nate when he first got to see his big boy bed. I'm so happy that I am able to catch these little memories, because words do not suffice sometimes. He was SO excited!!

In the moment, I had an unexpected reaction: I started sobbing. The realization hit me that my baby isn't a baby anymore!