The End of an Age

OK, so it's with some seriously mixed emotions that I'm writing this post. I know, the title of the post is really dramatic, but that's just me. Today I took the front rail off the crib and made it into a little toddler bed for Ryan. He was so excited-- he immediately climbed into it and laid down. I need to put a blanket on it or something to try to teach him to lay his head on the pillow and not just sleep all willy-nilly. The thing I'm most looking forward to is that I won't have to get up so early in the mornings. He'll be able to get out of bed and entertain himself with toys until it's time to get up. But I'm also really struggling with the fact that for the first time in four years, I'm not using a crib for one of my babies. In fact, unless there is divine intervention, we won't be using the crib again. Ever. That's just really sad.

So it will be interesting to see how he does. Will he be the kind of kid who goes in there when he's told and lays down to go to sleep? Or will he follow in his sister's footsteps and exercise his free will to play whenever he wants? I guess time will tell... today, in fact.

It's exciting to see my kids growing and reaching new milestones, but it's also hard because the time is going by so fast. This morning, Ryan was talking and asking questions, and I was struck with how much he's changed just in the last two months. (He was asking, "Mommy, what doing bed?" I told him that I was taking off the front rail. He said, "Why?" I said, "Because you're a big boy now and need to sleep in a big boy bed.") He is currently imitating dinosaur sounds, just in case you wanted to know.

And then there's my other one who yesterday told me she was going to change the world. Both these kids have changed mine.