Bedding down in the bunks

Since we bought Hannah's bunk beds, she has started off all naps and bedtimes in the bottom bunk, insisting on sleeping there, but ending up in her crib within about half an hour of laying down, sometimes at my suggestion, and sometimes she just climbs in there on her own.  We aren't in a hurry for her to evacuate the crib since there's nobody waiting in line to use it so we've just been letting her do her thing and adjust at her own pace.  Last night I tucked her into the bottom bunk and turned on her ladybug constellations as usual, then went downstairs and immediately zoned out in front of a movie. She didn't make much noise, and to be honest, we kind of forgot about her.  It's a rare minute that Hannah lets you forget about her, especially at bedtime, but she's been unwinding quietly and without as much assistance from us lately as long as we leave the door to her room open.  We watched the movie from start to finish pausing only for pee breaks and didn't once think about how strange that was.  We never looked at the monitor (also weird) and didn't even notice when it died.  After the movie, I dragged myself upstairs, plugged in and turned on the monitor, and nearly had a mini heart attack when I didn't see her in her crib. I gasped and was ready to freak out when I realized that she must have fallen asleep in her bunk bed for the first time! (The bunks aren't visible in the monitor.) Eric and I tiptoed in with a headlamp to peek at her, and sure enough, she was passed out on the her bunk bed.  We ogled her for a few minutes as only a truly obsessed parent would do and then tip toed back to our room to chatter about the cuteness.

We don't have a bed rail yet so I crossed my fingers that she wouldn't roll out of bed, and she didn't.  I crossed the fingers on my other hand that she wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night and, not realizing where she was, freak out, but she didn't do that either. She slept there in her bottom bunk perfectly peacefully until the very late hour of 7:00 a.m.!!! We got some pretty sweet mattresses for those beds, so maybe that made the difference.

On our first morning in Michigan this year Hannah woke up at 5:00 and slept the rest of the morning in our bed.  When she awoke a few hours later, she slid off the bed without disturbing Eric and padded out into the kitchen where Granpah and I were pulling together breakfast and waking up slowly.  She came out so quietly and cutely with her pjs and bed head that I had to pick her up and squeeze her.  I was looking forward to a replay of that this morning, but she slept so late that I had already finished my stretches and morning routine and was actually eager for her to wake up (crazy!) so as soon as I heard her talking I made a beeline for her room to squeeze her and tell her how excited I was that she slept all night in her bunk bed.

She slept there again during nap time and this time I got my much anticipated scenario when, after a nice, long nap, we heard her say "Daddy!" from the top of the stairs.

Tonight she's in her crib.  She climbed in there a minute after I left her room and started jumping up and down maniacally and yelling who knows what....I suppose one easy night per half-year is about all she has the patience for. That's fine though; all in all, I love this toddler phase of parenting.