Oh, yeah. This...is BIG.

When Lauren was a baby, she was very good sleeper (and eater, for that matter). But around the time that she turned one, it all fell apart. She started waking in the middle of the night and would not fall back to sleep. Oh yeah, we'd try letting her cry it out, but you see, our child is brillant. She doesn't fall for such simple tricks. Instead of eventually tiring herself out like any other kid would, she would work herself into such a frenzy that she would eventually throw up in her crib, knowing full well that no one wanted to deal with that. So, after several nights of pure torture, we did what what everyone advises you not to do. We did what we had to do to survive.

We let her sleep with us.

At first, she slept in our bed, but as soon as she was big enough, we moved her into a twin bed. After almost two years of this arrangement, I really don't see what the big deal is. True, we lost some privacy. And three people in one room doesn't often make for ideal sleeping conditions. But I wouldn't trade those nights of crawling into bed and seeing my little daughter sleeping sweetly in her bed next to mine.

Since Lauren will be turning three next month, we felt that the time had finally come for her to sleep in her own room. I wanted to accomplish this before we potty trained her, so as not to throw too much change her way at once. Plus, once she moved out, Mark and I could start remodeling our sorry excuse for a bedroom.

We had been working on and off on redecorating her room for the last couple of months, but finally on Friday night, we took the final step of moving her bed into her room. As soon as she saw the new set up, she was ecstatic. She started jumping up and down on the bed yelling, "I LOVE MY NEW BED!" even though it was the same exact one as before, only with new bedding (We're tricksy like that.). Then she'd say in a matter of fact way, "This room is really nice, Mom." It was adorable.



When the time for sleep came, she got into bed without hesitation. Then, something unexpected happened.

She didn't ask for her pacifier.

She was so excited, that she completely forgot that she slept with one. And we were certainly not going to remind her. BONUS!

Now getting up in the morning, was another matter entirely. As soon as she woke up and realized that she was alone, she freaked out. Then, she eased herself into a state of crabbiness that did not waver until we got her some milk. Baby steps, as they say.