My baby is not a baby anymore

This one was a big week for the Frost family: no more crib for Sophia, it was time to switch to a toddler bed. Our baby is officially a big girl!
I bought a pink race car bed a couple of months ago and I got an awesome deal for it. I picked this bed for several reasons, not only because it's pink and very cute:

I wanted a very short bed, I also wanted the edges to be round and soft so she could go in and out easily without getting hurt. After reviewing many toddler beds, this one seemed to be the perfect match. I decided to wait until after the surgery and she was out of the cast, so this weekend we set it up and gave it a try. We were really nervous that she was going to roll out when she was asleep and we didn't want to put a safe guard because if she decided to kneel and lean on it she could flip over and fall. But I also want to encourage independence and teach her that she could get out of bed on her own. After trying different things I decided to put a body pillow between the mattress and the border opposite to the wall and it works great! 

Sunday night was the night. I showed Sophia the bed and she smiled and knew immediately what she was supposed to do. The crib is still in her room (and it will be who knows for how long, I love you hubby ;) and she looked at it and the the bed and was confused for a minute but never tried to go towards it, instead, she got in her usual position to sleep with a huge smile on her face. We said our good nights, turned the light off and shut the door. We didn't hear a thing except for a very familiar snoring on the monitor, we were really excited but still ready for what the night was going to bring.

 After one hour of so, she wakes up crying. She has done this before so it's hard to tell whether it was the new bed or not. Eric held her for a bit, she feel asleep and stayed that way until the next day. I was very attentive the whole night and I heard her making noises around 5:00 am, then she was laughing and talking to herself. At 6:30 I went in to get her and this what I saw:

I think it's safe to say that Sophia liked it. It has been four nights and every night she is very happy to get into bed and wakes up very happy. In the morning I have been showing her how to get out by lying on her belly and then she basically pushes herself out until she is on her knees on the floor and I can tell she is proud for doing it. 

This is a big deal for me because it's the first step towards the transition that I am determined to help Sophia to go through. I want her to reach her full potential, I want her to grow as much as she can, to be as independent as much as she can. It's a difficult process because I need to do it without compromising her safety, I need to make sure she is ready and then help her to overcome the challenges that come with every change. It would be very easy for me to keep treating Sophia like a baby and  keep doing everything for her: keep feeding her, changing her diaper, talking for her and deciding for her what she is going to eat. But I want her to be her own person and that's a lot of work but in the end it's so worth it. 

It's a long process and Sophia is making the transition form baby into a toddler slowly, but surely. Today was a big girl's bed, tomorrow it's self feeding, then it'll be potty training. I don't know what her best is going to be but I am going to help her get there, one step at a time.

*I already see what the next step is going to be:

Tonight Sophia grabbed the bottle and brought it to her mouth, twice!!!