Ch-ch-changes

Used to be one of those parents who read books that told me how I should raise my children:  the main gist?  How to help your child be independent.  As in, your 3-month-old needing to "soothe himself".  I moved away from that pretty quickly, having kind of strong feelings about the whole business of "autonomy" and "independence", and was happy to discover many good Catholic writers who pooh-pooh this kind of child rearing.

What makes more sense to me is a gradual shifting from infancy to toddlerhood to childhood and on, all with tangible, demonstrable proof of my commitment, love and availability.  Having kids aged 14 down to 2 has shown me the multiple ways that I can do this--it's neat to have to meet the same needs in such different ways.

(Can I just pause here and say that this post is not going the way I thought it would?  I really did mean to just talk about my Lulu moving to her own bed!)

I myself don't like change.  I like things to stay as they are.  I like routine:  predictable, reliable, wonderful routine.  I like knowing when to do what and what to expect, and I think kids are mostly that way, too (but don't they love a good shakeup and surprise, too!).

When it comes to the comforts of existence (ie, sleeping and eating), change is hardly ever appreciated (especially for my stubborn anti-sleep warriors).  So I wasn't expecting much when we decided it was time for Lulu to move on to roomier beds, aside from delight in the bed itself (thank you, Craigslist) and the cute bedding.

She doesn't look to thrilled here, but when Big Sister joins in the fun . . .

Then she sees the potential.  She kept hopping happily into her own little bed ("It's perfect!" she squeals), but I was not fooled.  I knew that come naptime--we didn't even dare mention bedtime--perfection had little to do with the new bed with cutesy flowery sheets.

First day:  no dice.  No nap.  Crying at the gate.  Which was pretty much what I expected.

Day 2:  She plays quietly in the bed.

Day 3:  She naps in the bed.  I actually wake her because she's sleeping too long.  That night, when sleepy, she goes herself to the bed--completely unprompted by us, and falls asleep!

Day 4 (today):  No crying, and napping in the bed.  Wow!

Who knows how long it will take her to get used to this new arrangement, but I have high hopes.  When New Baby shows up, nighttime in our bedroom won't be so peaceful (with diaper changes & such).  Then we can move the little bed upstairs with Beatle and Doodle, and begin a whole new reign of sibling antics.

It's delightful to think of . . . for now, I'm imagining all the room I have for pillows.  At 30 weeks, a good sleeping space is essential, and for under 50 bucks, we may have just bought it!