Journey to the Knot: Big Boy Bunk

At 26 months old today, we have a new beginning for our 2-year-old. At this same age, Banner climbed out of his crib several times in a 24-hour period, and we knew it was time for his big boy bed, just three weeks before his baby brother was born. Well, here we are only a week or so ahead of Banner at that age and three months away from baby brother, and Quinn was expressing a dislike of his crib. He never climbed out, and we really would have been fine to keep him in his crib longer, but he kept fussing and whining about not liking his bed before naps and bedtimes. So, Sam and I decided to rush our plan to get Banner and Quinn in the same room sooner than later - or at least have it ready for when Quinn finally decided he was ready to be out of his crib for good.

The mere mention of a bunk bed had both boys super excited. When Quinn started to ask about his bunk bed, we knew we couldn't really hold off any longer. Luckily, my aunt and uncle were trying to donate my cousin's boyhood bedroom furniture. We were the willing recipients, but the furniture was brown and we wanted white since Banner's room was already set up to match a white scheme. No worries... we would just paint the furniture: the entire bunk bed and ladder and the matching dresser. So, this past Saturday morning, Sam and his dad moved the furniture from my aunt & uncle's house to our garage - where painting began as soon as my mom took the boys to her house after Banner's 3:00 soccer game. She kept them overnight so we could have lots of time to paint and organize. Sam did most of the painting, while I stayed in to gut Banner's closet (which had been my craft/gift wrap closet that B never used). By Sunday night, the bed was painted, assembled, and moved in to Banner's room. We still had some work to do - moving the monitor camera, getting their bedding washed and dried, etc. So, we waited one more night before the official move. Plus, I wanted one more night to rock Quinn in his own room, to put him in his crib one last time, and to have that one-on-one time with Banner laying in his bed with him. (And, Walking Dead may have been on, and I may have wanted to make sure there was no long, drawn-out interruption from the boys in a new room while trying to watch my show!) The evening was slightly emotional, but both boys were so very tired that they went right down and made the night smooth. Quinn happened to wake up around 5:30 (so totally awesome when my work alarm goes off at 6:00); and although I hated the early wake-up, I didn't mind rocking him for a few minutes before getting him back to sleep - just knowing my days of rocking him and having that one-on-one time with him would soon be a distant memory. I cradled him and smelled him and rocked him and patted him and held his little hand that wrapped around my finger.

Then, today, I put him down for nap in his crib one last time, also. And, at bed time, we let him choose if he was ready for the bunk bed or wanted his crib again. He wanted nothing to do with the crib! Any mention of it was met with a demand for the bunk bed and with much frustration on his part - because he's been asking for the bunk bed for so long now, how dare we not let him sleep in it already - now that it's here and ready! Banner, of course, was super excited to be on the top bunk, too! So, everyone was excited... until it was time to actually turn off the light and get in bed. That's when Quinn got a little teary. He never really cried or got upset, but he was definitely unsure about this move. It kind of broke my heart - because I wanted to cry with him. I, too, have a hard time with change and newness and growing up! So, here he was being slightly emotional and not sure how this was all going to go down.

I brought the ottoman from the glider in their room, and Sam rocked Quinn on it while telling them a Mario story. . . of course, what other kind of bedtime story is there?! Then, once Quinn was settled in bed, Sam stayed next to him on the floor until he was asleep. Banner fell asleep within about 20 minutes, too... he mostly just needed time to acclimate to his new tall perspective of his room, I think. He also isn't used to Quinn's lullaby music that we brought in with Banner's permission. (That's actually a cute story. I told Banner that Quinn listens to music when he goes to sleep; would he mind if we brought his music in? Banner said, "This is his room now too. That's fine with me." Kinda choked me up!)

I went in their room about 30 minutes later, and Quinn popped up. He said, "Where's Daddy?" I told him, "Daddy's here. You're okay. Night-night," and rubbed his back for just a minute. Then, he laid right back down, and we haven't heard from him since! It's been an hour and a half now, and who knows how the night and early morning will go. I've gone over the rules for sharing a room: being quiet, not waking the other person, and I even had both boys promise the other that they will be quiet and not wake the other, but no idea what our immediate future holds!

We still have a lot of work to do: finish painting and organizing the dresser; install a new ceiling fan; move Quinn's clothes and things into his new space. But, we are off to a great start. I'd like to thank Sam for all his hard work, patience, and time that he gave this quick (but not-so-easy) project! I'd also like to thank Uncle Barry, Aunt Susie, and Brennan for their furniture, and, my father-in-law, Richard, for helping to move and transport it! And, thank you to my mom for keeping the boys this past weekend so we could get so much accomplished in a short time. Here's to a peaceful night and a smooth transition for all of us!
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Update 11/10: So, how did it go?? Well, Banner did beautifully! He even slept a little later than usual (7:30 as opposed to 6:45ish). When Quinn woke up in the middle of the night, around 2:30, Banner woke up, too, but he went right back to sleep and stayed asleep from then on. Quinn, as I said, woke up the first time at 2:30; Sam went in and sat next to the bed for a while and left once Quinn fell asleep. An hour later, he was awake again. He never got out of bed, but he called and cried for us. The third time he woke up, around 4:30, I went to him and he said, "Uppy, Mommy," as he stood up. I rocked him for a bit, and then I put him back in bed and said, "You're okay." He took a little while, but he eventually fell asleep on his back (as I watched the monitor in my own bed). Finally, at 5:30ish, when he awoke a fourth time, I did the same thing, and when I tried to leave his room that time, he cried pretty hard. I was worried he'd wake up Banner (who, at that time of the early morning, would not have gone back to sleep if he woke up), so I grabbed Quinn and quickly got him out of the room. We let him sleep in our bed for the rest of the "night," and he slept until a little after 7:00. I was kind of bummed I caved and that he didn't make it all through the night, BUT I also know it could have been a lot worse, and I was really pleased with the beginning of the night and with Banner's sleep. I was able to watch (on the monitor) Banner climb down the bunk ladder first thing when he woke up, and he was really proud of himself for doing that so nicely.

It is currently nap time as I write this update, and I gave Quinn the choice of napping in his bed or in his crib. When I asked him, he was leaning on the ladder of the bunk bed, and he said, "Sleep on the ladder!" He smiled and we laughed at him being silly, but then he said, "in there," as he pointed to his own room. So, as I type, he is sleeping peacefully in his crib. And, given that today is a swim lesson day, I am totally okay with him napping in there and getting a good rest! We will see what he chooses tonight, but I definitely want to change a few things for the evening to help make it go more smoothly. Most importantly, we will turn off Banner's night light that Quinn is definitely not used to; it was way too bright in that room last night! Wish us luck tonight! :)