Where Is My Little Juju?

Where did my little girl go? Everyone told me it goes by fast...watching your kids grow up. But seriously, did someone take my baby and replace her with this two year old going on 12?

Yesterday we spent an hour cleaning up Jubilee's room, packing old clothes up, and rearranging for her toddler bed. Up until now we were still using the crib and I kind liked having a place to corral her. But since she became totally potty trained for day time, she's been waking up at night wanting to go potty. So I figured it was time for a bed she could get out of on her own so she could start learning how to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night too.

Like almost every big change in Jubilee's life, I try to read up on it first so I know what to expect. I have heard some not-to-pleasant stories about kids being up all night, bouncing in and out of their new beds with the new found freedom. Bedtime suddenly becoming a nightmare and a power struggle and making the parent wonder if their child should ever have come out of the crib.

So I was prepared. We got some new Dora the Explorer bed linens. This was something that I wasnt thrilled about. I dont really like to put my kid in "character" type stuff. Especially clothes. I swore she wouldnt own any apparel with Disney or other cartoony characters on it... and to this day I only caved on a pair of super cute Boohbah tennis shoes that she only wears for play and a couple sets of Dora pajamas. But when we went to this really great 2nd hand store for kids here in town called Twice Upon a Child, I couldnt resist the Dora the Explorer sheets, pillowcase and blanket for 10 bucks!

Dylan and Makayla were here after school and they helped us rearrange her room and convert the crib into the toddler bed. As we were doing this, Jubilee got very agitated. She was VERY worried about her crib being taken apart. When we took the mattress out she kept telling us, "put it back! put it back!". I tried explaining she was going to get a big girl bed and that it was going to be cool....but she just didnt believe me. That is, until we got it all set up, Dora trappings and all. Well thats all it took! She climbed in and out of her own bed probably 50 times just because she could! When it was finally bed time we kept the same routine; shower, brush teeth, jammies, mommy's bed for one cartoon, read a story, then bedtime. She layed right down, snuggled her babies and went to sleep. No struggle, no up and down out of bed every 10 mins...nothing! Piece of cake!

Its almost 6am now and she should be waking within the next hour. We'll see if she gets up on her own or calls for me like she did in the crib!

Seriously tho, shouldnt this growing up thing go just a little bit slower!?