A Big Bed for A Big Girl

Today is the big day! Sydney moved from her crib to a toddler bed. We decided to wait until now to move her into a bed because she was sleeping so well in her crib (she wasn't trying to climb out) that there was no rush. But now that we will be moving in May we thought it would be good to get her used to a bed before getting used to a new room. We've been talking to her about her new bed for a little while and when it arrived in it's large box this week she knew it was "Sydney's new bed". I bought lavender sheets to match what was already in her room. Unfortunately these toddler sheets are so small that I can't tuck them under the mattress even without Sydney in the bed. I will have to find twin sheets instead. We looked around for a toddler pillow but found that Andrew's "pillow blanket" that his uncle made for him several years ago is small enough and thin enough for Sydney to comfortably lay her head on, and it fits in the small lavender pillow case. Sydney watched as Andrew took apart her crib and said "bye bye" to it. Then I took her downstairs so Andrew could put her new bed together. As soon as she saw it she immediately climbed on it and started scrambling all over it, getting off and on, laying down, getting up, over and over again. I put on her bedding and she commented that it was purple and looked over the design of the quilt. Usually Andrew and I trade nights putting her to bed but tonight we did it together so we could both see how she did getting into her bed for the first time. Andrew read her books then she sat with me and I explained that she had to lay down in her bed and she had to wait for mommy and daddy to come to get up (we'll see how long that lasts but at least we have a start). When I closed her door and started heading downstairs I heard her exclaim "Sydney did it...I did it!!!" Andrew and I looked at each other thinking uh-oh. I went back in her room and she was still laying in her bed. She said "Sydney did the books" which I'm thinking meant she put the books Andrew read to her back on the shelf. She couldn't see them as well from her crib and she was probably enjoying the new view. She did fall out once about 20 minutes after putting her down but that was to be expected. She flops all over her crib when she's falling asleep and the toddler sheets are too short to hold her in. We heard her say something and then a big boom and lots of crying. We raced up to her room and saw she was ok, just shaken. Luckily she wasn't afraid of laying back down asking us to get the comforter that had fallen on the floor. When she bumped into the rail a second time I stayed with her and laid on the floor next to her bed until she fell asleep. It'll just take some time for her to get used to her new bed. I'm really happy she likes it. As I was lying next to her bed she asked me "Mommy like Sydney bed?" I said "yes Mommy likes Sydney's bed".