devious

i'm really anxious to get kitten out of her crib and into her toddler bed--mostly because i'm tired of having both a crib and toddler bed in her room. i'm ready to re-dec-or-ate. especially since i never really decorated in the first place. i just moved in after saying, "if you ever decide again that we need to buy a bigger house when i am 8 months pregnant you will not survive it."

the toddler bed works perfectly about 50% of the time; the other 50% of the time it's a horrible screaming failure.

yesterday afternoon she took her nap in her toddler bed and it was no problemo. the key is for me to sit in the rocking chair in her room and read my book until she falls asleep. as long as i do that, she doesn't move a muscle. but if i leave while she's still awake, then 20 minutes later she comes wandering into the kitchen with a handful of tiny plastic swallowable contraband collected from princess's room and a mile-wide grin on her face.

after yesterday's nap went so well, i put her down in the toddler bed again last night. i had to get up twice (about par for the course). i was alerted to the sound of her fussing over the baby monitor. when she didn't settle herself, i got up and went upstairs to check on her, and both times - i can't quite figure this out - she was halfway out of the bed with her hands on the floor. the first time i picked her up and laid her back down and she immediately fell asleep. the second time, as i opened the door, she said, loudly in the darkness, "uh-oh." i had to stifle a laugh.

well tonight, i say to myself, "it's time for the toddler bed. no more crib." i'm mentally redecorating, picking out the new paint color. bath, lotion, pajamas, brush teeth, story, rocking chair, and down in the bed. i settled in the chair with my book. she lays still for a while, then starts playing with her pacifier. then rolls over and starts playing with her sock monkey. starts kicking her legs in the air. babbling. bad news.

i picked her up, settled her back down and turned out the reading lamp. she thought i was gone. she laid there for a while, then sat up and threw her pacifier onto the floor. "uh-oh," she chirped. she's so cunning: as if to say to the darkness, "well look at that! my pacifier is on the floor. now i must arise from my cozy bed to retrieve it, which is surely a burden."

so i said from my dark corner, "nite nite! lay down!" she scrambled back to her blanket lightening-quick, the oh crap! look on her face practically visible in the darkness. a few minutes later found her turned around at the foot of her bed with the bedroom door pried open, peering down the stairs.

now it's an hour and a half later and after much to-do she's sleeping soundly in her crib. so much for the twin-size quilt bedding sitting perpetually in my shopping cart on potterybarnkids.com.