Already a Big Boy

O is a climber. A masterful artist of propelling himself upward and leveraging any device he can to explore new heights.

Exhibit A: When I was working in the garden this past weekend, he positioned himself on the wire fencing and quickly climbed halfway up in the matter of three seconds. (There went our theory that he could help me in the garden because I could close the gate behind me and he would be safe and blocked inside.)

Exhibit B: His crib. He had no problem slinging his leg to the top of his crib and then using his toddler upper body strength to pull the rest of himself up, only to fling himself over and crash land. This problem started about a week ago. D and I were completely unprepared. K never did anything of this sort. No desire to fling himself out of the crib. In fact, I think we just transitioned him to a toddler bed at the age of two because we thought he'd be more comfortable not being confined.

As a reminder O is only 19-months-old. He's still a little pumpkin and while by definition, he's a toddler ... he's my baby. In desperation, I put a call for help out on the discussion board we have for working moms at the big company. (Definitely a perk of working for a large company is the social networks that exist.) The advice came fiercely and quickly ... they all declared it might be time to transition him to a toddler bed. I was in shock ... he's still a baby ... there's no way he is ready...

Alas, I shared the advice with D and he decided we should take the plunge and see what happens. So we converted the crib to a toddler bed last night ... and it worked! Of course, at first you could see the smile and mischief in O's eyes when he realized he was no longer confined to his bed ... but after a quick scolding that it was bed time and he needed to lay down, he listened.

I cannot believe it worked ... and I cannot believe my tiny little baby is now in a toddler bed. I know that at the end of the day, the quick transition was harder for me than it was for him. And D said this morning he came running in our bedroom all exciting yelling daddy! daddy! My little baby cannot be growing up this fast ... but he is ... and his big brother starts kindergarten this fall. Time really is precious and now I must go in and sneak a peek at my sleeping babies.