On Growing Up

No denying it, Nora is growing up. She is going to be two years old next month, which blows my mind. I can still remember her being a tiny 6 pound baby that just liked to sleep on me. Now she runs all over our house, tries to dress (and undress herself), and talks in full sentences. It has been amazing watching her grow and develop. She is so smart and very independent, but still very much our baby girl. 

The other night, Madison decided to take the front off of Nora's crib to turn it into her first "big girl bed." We had been talking about doing this for a while, because Nora loves to crawl into our bed and cuddle with the pillows and blankets. Look at that happy face! She was so excited. 

The first night went ok. She didn't even want to read a book before bed because she was so excited to sleep in her big girl bed. She slept from 7pm until about 1:30, when she woke up with teething pain. We let her sleep in our bed the rest of the night because she was very upset. All in all, it was a good first attempt because she didn't try to get up and play with her toys at all. 

The second night was very different. We have been trying to keep her bedtime routine the same, so that she knows when it is time for bed. She went down fine, but within 15 minutes, she was up playing with her books. I went in, laid her back down and told her that she needed to go to sleep. 15 minutes later, up again and trying to open her door. We decided to put her crib back together and told her that it was a privileged she would need to earn again. Honestly, she seemed relieved to me. She loves her bed, and we have a really good bedtime routine. 

This whole situation made me think about how different every child is. I know some kids who have been able to sleep in a big bed as soon as 18 months. Nora is clearly not one of those kids. She sat up and learned to crawl later than babies her age. She didn't walk at by her first birthday, and first words followed after that. It never bothered us, because we know all babies grow and develop at different speeds. 

We know now that Nora isn't ready for the responsibility of a big girl bed, and that is fine with us. She also has no interest in potty training at this age. We bought her a little potty to use, but she gets very upset whenever we ask her to try it. I had thought that she might be potty trained by 2, but since that clearly won't happen, we'll aim to work on it this coming year. I never want to be the mom that forces these things on her kids, I know she will come around it in her own time. 

I love watching Nora grow up and learn new things, but a part of me also loves that she is taking her time doing it.