like a weed.

jack's growing, that is. so, i mentioned that he 'got himself up' the day we left for our disneyland surprise. i'm one of those moms that lets things as they are unless we have to make a change. jack had been cribbing it until wednesday, the 10th. i knew this day would come, and i was/am oh! so! thankful!! that it took him allll this time to decide to 'get himself up'.

as pete woke grumpy jack up, i was doing something important (for the life of me i can't remember what now, but it was uber important). jack wanted me to get him out of his crib and i asked him to wait a minute. he did. maybe 5 minutes even. then, he said, 'i get myself up!' and walked his little self into the office. i was in shock. i interrogated pete. did you get him up? i interrogated jack. did daddy get you up? was this some not-so-funny joke?!?! how in the world did he get himself up without a peep?!?!

i got over the shock, asked pete to join me, and we gathered around the crib while i asked jack to show us how he 'got himself up'. he climbed over, and dropped off the side with absolutely no problem. i knew he was capable, deep down, but really wanted to ride the comforts (and safety and sleep!) of the crib as long as possible. after watching his skilled move, we left for our mini-vacay!

when we returned, it was time. it's such a big milestone to move your child out of a crib. jack and i both cried when we took the crib apart. pete was such a support to both of us. i just can't believe how fast jack is growing into a little boy. he's a kid now! in a big boy bed! my tears were gone the second jack displayed his love for his new bed. he jumped up and down, screaming, 'i have a big boy bed!!! it is sooooo cool!!! look, there's a car, a truck, another car, another truck!' -- he loved it! he cuddled up with his blanket and pillow with a grin from ear to ear. pete and i were so proud and prepped ourselves for the night. will he sleep in it? will he cry? be scared? try to leave his room? pull down the curtains? the bookshelf? i ran through the list - bolted to the wall, check. no cords, check. all small toys out of the room, check.

after taking down the crib and putting the big boy bed together, we went to a birthday party. with a bouncy house! our fears of no sleep were unfounded as our big boy bounced and bounced, then passed out, excited, in his big boy bed.

and you know what? he must've been ready, because we've had less nights of him waking up now than we did when he was in his crib! we are so lucky with this little guy :).

something else that might be contributing to all the sleep happening here? growth spurts! jack was comfortable wearing his 2T pants when we went to pennsylvania in october, went through 3T pants in 3 weeks, and is now rocking 4Ts. it literally happened in a month. he'll be riding big thunder mountain railroad before we know it!

i'm sure cupcakes are helping him grow, too, right?