Ummm...

       Is it bad that I don't really remember my week? I'm trying to think of what I should be writing about this morning, but I can't really think of much at all. I just can't remember what, if anything, outside of the ordinary occurred. The answer there, I believe, must be a no. However, there is the transition to talk about. (transitioning to a bed, instead of a crib)
      So, last Sunday, we started with an attempt at just walking her back to her bed, and leaving, no talking, cuddles, kisses, etc. Hoping she would get the hint that she wasn't going to get any attention. Yeah... That didn't work so well for us. During the day, at naptime, she thought it was a game, and would come out to get me grinning from ear to ear. So, after 3 times of that, I put her in her bed, and held the door shut. OOH, that created a fit. She screamed and cried for almost a half hour... and then fell asleep. So, not my favorite, but it worked. Nighttime was a different story. We got her in bed, got her settled, and almost asleep, and then left the room. We tried the same thing as at naptime, because she woke up as soon as we left, and was terribly upset. However, this time it didn't seem as much like she was going for attention, but was worried/scared because we weren't in there. But we did the same thing, 3 times back in bed, and hold the door shut. It worked again, but not for about 20 minutes. Then came the worst part, the middle of the night escapades, where she would come and get me up, and I would have to do the same thing all over again, because, as we all know, routine is key. Yeah, that was the worst. In the middle of the night it was most definitely NOT an attention grab. But I didn't know what else to do, or if I could do anything else, and still have the other times work.
     We repeated this basic scenario for a few days, before we'd had enough. She wasn't just trying to get attention, it wasn't a "she'll realize she won't get your attention, and sleep on her own". I think we actually started the transition a couple weeks too late. She had started, in her crib, to have a harder time going to sleep at night within the 2-3 weeks right before we transitioned, so it makes sense that it carried over. Kind of a repeat of separation anxiety. So, we stopped the bedtime part of the 'Just leave her'. I try to calm her down and get her to sleep at naptime, but I will only be in there for 10 minutes. Then I start the 3 times up, and then I hold her door. We've gotten so she no longer cries and cries and cries. Now she just cries. ;) It takes about 5-10 minutes of holding her door before she'll fall asleep now. At night we went back to being in her room, but we often just lay on  her floor, and even fall asleep for a bit ourselves. (which, let me tell you, is not good for this pregnant mama's back)
      So, we'd had a thought rolling around (thanks Mom), that maybe it was because she didn't know quite what to do. In the crib she knew she was supposed to stay because of the rails in the way. But when we took off the rail, she didn't have that knowledge that she was supposed to stay in bed. So, maybe if we switched her to her "big girl" bed, it would be enough of a switch that it would sink in. So, yesterday we did that. We talked up the "big girl" bed, and how big girls stay in bed on their own, and how she is such a big girl. We set it up, got the sheets and pillow on, and then searched for an old twin-sized quilt of ours (Jessica's isn't quite finished yet, this came sooner than we expected). Phew, quilt found. We tried at naptime first. She was way excited about her bed, and ran right back to it to try to climb in. It is a little on the tall side for her, but she is able to make it in. Unfortunately, too much excitement made it hard for her to fall asleep for naptime. So, we did end up still holding the door shut. However, once she did fall asleep, she slept for 3 HOURS!!!! I was so very excited. She'd generally not been napping for more than an hour (when normal is 2) which had been making it very difficult for me to calm down after rough mornings, or get much more than eating, and 1 other thing done, which meant I was getting behind.
      Once she got up, we praised her, and loved her, and then continued our day. Bedtime rolls around, and was a nightmare. She wouldn't fall asleep (probably still the excitement). It took over an hour to get her to fall asleep, because we didn't want to hold the door shut at bedtime. But she eventually did fall asleep. We decided to do one other thing. We put the baby gate right in her doorway. So, last night, in the middle of the night (probably sometime around midnight or 1) she woke up, opened her door, and found the gate. She cried for... I would say not more than 5 minutes, and then walked back to her bed, and went back to sleep! SUCCESS!! Plus, normally, with a midnight wakeup, there would be another one at 3ish. NOPE. I was in Heaven. Unfortunately, because her door was open, when my alarm went off at 5, she did wake up and come to the gate. However, because it was a quiet enough alarm, and I had gotten it turned off, but was not out of bed, and no lights were on, she didn't even make any noise at the gate. Just stood there for a few minutes, and went back to bed. Hopefully this means I'll actually be able to get the sleep I need in the next couple months before Jacob gets here. It has been a really, really rough 2 weeks. So hoping that yesterday/last night were not flukes.
And now, for your enjoyment, and your reward for reading this long wordy post, a picture:

This week's kitchen escapade (Friday quilting day) included yet another book. (If you look closely, you can see that is what is on her lap). This time, she went for Tom Clancy, "Hunt for Red October". However...

She then came back to return that one (which she even put back on the shelf) in exchange for a repeat of Diana Gabaldon "Breath of Snow and Ashes".

(Again, I apologize for the quality of the pictures, my photo editor stopped working. I really need to reinstall it)