Big Boy Bunk Beds!

Please pardon the overdose of alliteration in the post title :)  But we have finally arrived at a huge milestone of toddlerhood.  Jackman has graduated to the big boy bed.  The crib - it's gone (or at least in the next room eagerly awaiting Lucy's arrival.)  Andy and I had plans to move Jack into a big boy bed once we knew the gender of baby #2.  The original thought process had been - if it's a boy then we will get bunk beds so eventually they can share a room, if it's a girl then we get Jack a twin bed & will one day turn the guest room into Lucy's room.  Then it dawned on us - why can't Lucy and Jack share a room for the first few years?  (Secretly i was looking for a way to get bunk beds all along.  I love the idea of bunk beds.  They are so fun and efficient!)  

I think the other reason we waited to move Jack into the big boy bed was fear.  Abject, utter fear.  You see, we are spoiled.  I mean SPOILED.  Jack has never, in 2 1/2 years, attempted to climb out of his crib.  He's just not a climber.  He didn't inherit the mountain goat gene or perhaps he did inherit my lack of coordination.  Either way, we are so, so, so lucky b/c it has allowed us to keep him captive and safe at night within the confines of the crib.  So I was afraid of what might happen once we lost that security blanket.  Should I expect a crash in the middle of the night?  Will I lose 10 years off my life when I open my eyes at 3 am and see a little red head peering at me from the side of the bed? Will this totally completely disrupt his sleep pattern? (Not that it's been that great lately - we average about 3 'wake ups' a night)  So this past weekend we bit the bullet and moved Jack into his big boy bed.  But first there was some prep work.

Every night for a month we have read to him from this book my friend Valarie gave me.  It is great b/c this little boy talks about how awesome his new bed is and how cribs are for babies. Jack wanted so badly to try out his bed but we needed to do a little construction first.  :)

Looks easy right?  :) Andy did a fantastic job assembling this beast of a project (Handy Andy strikes again!) He also had to do it during a time when Jack's fever was spiking and we were going on ambulance rides.

It was a little intimidating (easy for me to say since I only watched and washed construction sheets and Jack's new quilt for his bed in preparation.)

 Andy is the pinnacle of patience.

 Ta-da!  Two things we love about this particular bunk bed 1.  The stairs that lead up to the 2nd level (ladders scare me) and 2.  the really high rails on the top bunk.  Oh, and the storage...so 3.  3 awesome things about this design :)

 He was very excited to try it out!  Sadly the second it was finished there was no way I was letting Jack sleep there.  Until his fever had broken, Andy and I made him sleep in the pack n play next to our bed until our paranoia subsided.  But the next weekend...

It was go time!  So far so good :)  At this point, we are on night 3 and we've had no falls, no cries, no crashes, and no late night surprise visits.  Fingers crossed this streak continues.  While it breaks my heart a little to see his tiny little self, swimming in sheets and pillows on this big twin bed, I can't help but picture him 10 years from now - too big for a twin bed, on the verge of becoming a teenager.  i don't like how quickly he's growing up but I do love seeing him hit all these awesome milestones. Every day he surprises us more and more with the little person he's becoming.