Isabella's big girl bed

It was a few days before Christmas when we decided that Isabella *might* be ready to switch her crib into a big girl (toddler) bed. So we asked her if she was ready & of course she said YES! So Daddy switched it & we had the "talk" with her about when to get out of bed & when to not. Well for a couple of weeks that talk worked. She would even call us in the mornings to come get her when she woke up rather than just coming out. Oh, & the first time she did come out in the morning it was the cutest thing. I was in the living room with Jackson when I hear her door open. I then look over & see her bounding out of her room with the biggest smile on her face. She was so proud of herself! With the change in the bed situation we also made a change in nap time. She now has "quiet time" where she must stay in her bed but she can look at books or play with her stuffed animals *quietly* (that being key). So again, she did really well with this for the first couple of weeks & was excited to be able to have this freedom.

After a bit though she discovered that she could get out of bed & we wouldn't neccessarily know. One day I hear her door close (she does not know how to do this quietly yet!) but I don't go check. Then I hear it close again. Finally I go in there to discover that she is not only out of bed & behind her rocking chair in the corner, but she has lots of her play kitchen items back there with her (which is why the door closed twice... she was gathering the kitchen items in 2 trips). So she was busted & had to get back in bed. Mike & I went in there 4 or 5 more times that quiet time to find her out of bed each & every time!!! Thankfully it isn't always that bad... but we have our days. Night time is the same although she is a bit better about staying in bed then & going to sleep. We finally had to tell her that if she continued to get out of bed when she wasn't suppose to we'd have to change it back into a crib. Which isn't a bluff... we will do it (well daddy will be the one to actually do the labor on the converstion)!