Dream: I go to the zoo with Mommy and Daddy and all the animals are either in cages or wandering about free in their natural setting. The animals tell me to escape my cage and be free. What could they mean? It suddenly dawns on me. My crib is a cage and I better escape. I wake up in a tizzy and immediately start climbing out.
Reality: My crib has been my home away from home, my safe haven, and a fantastic place to get my much needed sleep. Yet after going to the zoo more often and seeing animals in cages, these cages eerily reminded me of my crib. So the next morning, after Daddy got me out of my crib, I decided to climb up into bed to wake Mommy and see what that big bed was like. And I loved it! It was open and free and full of soft pillows and blankies. Can you guess what happened next?
Well, everyone knows about my athletic prowess. I have always been an active little lady and when determined to get something done, it gets done. So that very next morning I tried climbing out of my crib. It was easy as pie. I was almost about to go in for the big drop down when Mommy magically appeared and caught me (she must have more than two eyes!). I had a giggle and she had a scare but it was all good. I said: “Good morning, Mommy” and went about my usual morning activities of hugging and squeezing my puppy, waking up my dolls, and asking for my cereal and milk. Mommy didn’t acknowledge my crib climbing antics (silly, Mommy) until I did the whole thing on repeat at nap time. By that night, Mommy was reading me books about my favorite monster Elmo being big enough for a bed. Sure enough after an outing the next day I came home to find a big girl bed waiting for me!
There were some great gifts to go with my big girl bed, too: some sheets I picked out with Mommy, my special blankie, a personalized pillow with my name, and a magical clock. According to Mommy and Daddy, the clock knows when it is time to wake up and it turns green to let me know. If I wake up and it is not green, it means I need more beauty rest but if it is green, I can play in my bed and sing songs until Mommy and Daddy get me (but I think I will likely just scream for them until they come get me out of bed). The clock thing sounds serious since they both made sure I had my listening ears on when telling me all about it and kept repeating it. Of course I get it but will have to see how I feel about it later at wake up time.
That night was so exciting. I brought my fave stuffed animal friends into my new bed and told them all about what a big girl I am. I got to climb inside and rest my head on my fantastic, fancy pillow and get tucked in under a special blankie. We read a big girl bedtime story in my bed and then it was night night time. Mommy reminded me that the clock would be green when it was time to wake up and to have a good night’s sleep.
Sleeping in my new bed was so magical that I drifted right off to bed and had sweet dreams. When I woke up, the clock was green so I hugged my friends good morning and called for Mommy and she came right in. She was so proud of me and told me over and over. Naturally, I was proud of myself, too, and we gave a big hug and kiss.
But at nap time we didn’t see eye to eye. I did not want to nap so decided to climb in and out of my bed, try jumping in it like the ten little monkeys, and conducted other fun experiments. Like I would climb out of bed and then go knock on my bedroom door for Mommy to let me out. Clever, eh? Bet you never thought you’d need to knock to get let out. Toddler problems. Anyhow, each time Mommy would come in and gently remind me that it was nap time and to get back into and stay in bed. This was such a fun game. But after a couple of more antics, Mommy said I couldn’t play unless I napped. Uh oh. She means business. So I decided I better settle down and at least pretend to nap. This led to a great nap. Thanks, Mommy.
Fast forward to bedtime that night and I am a perfect doll. We do my usual bedtime routine and I immediately ask to climb up into bed to sleep. Then I ask for more milk. Silly Mommy gives it to me in bed and I take it and dump it upside-down. It was like a milk bath spa treatment. Ahhh! It makes a huge mess and requires cleaning and starting the bedtime routine over. What fun! Eventually, it is bed time again and I say a sweet night, night and drift off to bed dreaming about the clock turning green. When I wake up the clock is not green. I weigh my options and decide that I will play and wait for it to turn green. Mommy and Daddy were so happy and we all celebrated when it turned green and I got up to start the day. I cannot wait to do this every day. I’m a big girl now! And green may be my new favorite color.
