Changes...

It took us longer than most parents, but we’ve finally moved Tyler out of his crib and into a real bed. When we brought up the plan to Tyler in October, he seemed pretty resistant, and we didn’t push the issue too much. While most parents of toddlers have had to deal with their kids climbing out of their cribs from as early as age 1, we never experienced that with Tyler and figured we’d enjoy keeping him “caged” in for as long as possible.

But seeing as though Tyler’s future wife may not enjoy sleeping in a crib – and acknowledging the reality that our next child is going to need the crib at some point next year – we finally made the switch two weekends ago.

It went off without a hitch. Tyler was so excited to have a big-boy bed in his room, with a big blanket all for him and the freedom to go on and off it as he pleased, that he was so happy to see his crib go that he helped us disassemble it and move it into what will become his sister’s room.

As great as it's been to have him in a regular bed, I'm still mourning the crib. We also had to move his rocker out to make room for the bigger bed. Those two pieces of furniture together hold a lot of memories. As working parents, Andrew and I each have spent many hours rocking Tyler in that chair until long past when he was actually asleep and ready to be placed in his crib. It’s where we took naps with him on lazy Sundays, or slept through the night when he had a head cold. And it’s where we’ve read stories every single night for the past 2.5 years at least.

It’s hard to come to grips with the fact that I won’t ever again rock Tyler to sleep in his bedroom and place him in his bed. Three years have gone by really fast. And while we’ll get to do those same things with Tyler’s sister, it's scary to know the time is going to go by just as quickly.

PS. Can you see Tyler in the above picture? That's his little jean-covered butt in the air on the upper-left side of his bed. :-)