Operation Big Girl Bed is a success!

This week while watching the napcam, we noticed Ruby doing something new:

Uh oh. Time to accelerate plans for a big girl bed! We had been thinking of upgrading her in a couple of months, but now it was urgent. Yesterday, I talked it up to Ruby all day (she’s very interested in becoming a big girl). We went on a special shopping trip where I bought a vinyl mattress cover, and she selected a quilt and sheets. I gave her a couple of options in each case so as not to overwhelm her (and so we didn’t hate it).

Because of the short notice, we decided to give Ruby the futon in our guest room. This is a temporary hack to give us time to buy her a real bed, but it’s also a good transition bed, since it’s low to the ground. Last night, Steve disassembled the crib and the futon and we set up the futon in Ruby’s room. She was very eager to test out her new bed:

As part of the furniture rearrangement, we were able to create a little reading nook for Ruby in the corner of her room:

After taking a photo of the new bedding, we tucked Ruby in for her first night in a big bed:

Ruby was very happy about the big girl bed and didn’t show a moment of fear, hesitation, or crib nostalgia. We told her that she must stay in her room until we came to get her in the morning, and that if she didn’t, we would put up a baby gate. This morning, as asked, she stayed in her bed after awakening and played quietly until we came up.

The real test of the open doorway will be naptime. Today she’s at my parents’ house, so the first naptime in the big bed will be tomorrow.