It's Over

Since Stella was 5 months old she has been a dream sleeper. A dream I tell you. For naps, she would just lay down in her crib with a bottle or a sippy cup and fall asleep. The same with night time. She has her little routine, where Trevor reads her "The very hungry Caterpillar" then she falls asleep with a sippy cup no problem. Stella won't fall asleep anywhere but a crib, pack n' play, or a car seat. Not in your arms, not in our bed, not on the couch. She sleeps in her crib, and that is where she likes it. Sometimes if work is getting a little crazy and she is almost sleepy, I can lay her down in her crib with a sippy cup and a book and she will yack it up for 45 minutes before falling asleep. Its amazing.
Well all of that is over and I'm screwed. It started last Sunday for my dad's birthday party. Stella didn't get her after church nap and was just way to excited to be playing with Finley and Bampa Trace to take a nap. But around 5pm I put her down in the basement in her pack n' play. She was mad, screaming mad. She was reallllly tired so I ignored it and went upstairs with the rest of the party. 10 minutes later Stella has joined the party. On her own. We are totally screwed.
All week she had forgotten of her new found ability of climbing out of the crib, and even better she had forgotten that she knew how to open the doors. Then Friday came, and I was showering downstairs. Stella was napping, or so I thought. I got out of the shower to sweet Stella standing there outside the shower door, "Hi Mommy". Those big blue eyes get me every time. I marched her upstairs and laid her down again. 12 seconds later she was out of the crib asking for her bug juice. Argh, this was going to be a long process.
We spent that night up in Tabiona and well, it was a process to get her to sleep. Once again there was a party going on. But she hadn't had a nap all day and was so ornery. Grama Deb had to read her a story and sing her a song then I laid with her on my bed until she was fast asleep. This is the very first time since leaving the newborn stage that she has every fallen asleep in my arms on a bed. Astounding. After she is good and asleep I moved her in to her bed and awoke to her sitting on my face the next morning.
We came home from Tabiona and I was so excited to show Trevor how much our free hours from 8pm on were going to change. He read to her and laid her down and I sat outside the door. He closed the door and walked the kitchen, by the time he walked into the kitchen she was already at the door wiggling the doorknob, and by the time he walked back to her room she had it open. After rocking her to sleep in her rocking chair, yes something else that hasn't happened since she wore size 0-3 months clothes, she slept in her crib. 7:12 am Sunday morning, Trevor and I are awoken to the sound of a little girl wiggling the doorknob. 12 seconds later, she is peering over the edge of the bed, "Hi Mommy".
After realizing that this was not going to work, this whole no nap, having to rock her to sleep method is not something we are going to do. We took the front of the crib off and put up the toddler bed rail. Stella helped Trev make her new big girl bed, and she was so excited!

She started jumping up and down on it and tucking her baby dolls in bed there. While Trev was fixing her big girl bed, I was childproofing her bedroom door, from the inside.
When we tucked her into bed last night she wouldn't let us leave her bed. She kept pushing my shoulder down, "No Mommy, LAY DOWN, go to sleep, NOW." I refrained from arguing back with my 22 month old, so big of me right? It took her 20 minutes of screaming at the door to fall asleep in her rocking chair.
I wasn't really prepared for this day to come. I knew it would have to especially since number two is in route. But my little baby is all grown up and a little girl now. I might of had a tear or two as we were laying in her new big girl bed and she was snuggled up next to me, begging me not to leave her.

Then she fell asleep and I closed the door and she was locked in.