My little Houdini

Ryder figured out how to escape his crib the other day. I knew that day would eventually come, but I didn't expect it so soon! I should have known, though. That boy is constantly surprising us with how brilliant he is. You can tell him anything and he'll understand you. If I were to say 'Go to your room, get your truck, bring it to your brother, then give me a kiss' - he would do it, all in order. When I ask if he's hungry, wants to eat, or wants a snack, its "YEAHHH! Mmmm!" The other day Tyler came home from work while the kids were all at the table, eating. I said, "Daddy's home!", the kids were like "meh" but Ryder bursts out "OH yeahhhh!" It was awesome.

But back to the crib thing. I had just put him and Lena down for naps, maybe 15 minutes had gone by, more than enough time for them both to fall asleep. But I could hear bumps and bangs and toy noises coming from one of their bedrooms. I assumed it was Lena, since she was pretty resistant to the whole nap idea. The noises got louder, then I could hear the toy noise coming from the hall. "Lena! Get back to bed - NOW!" I peeked into the hall and there was Ryder, sitting on the floor, playing with a toy. "What the...? How? Huh? Lena, did you get him out of the crib? Oh, she's sleeping. Ryder, did you get out of the crib by yourself? Okay, then, show me!" So I put him back in the crib and sure enough, the little bugger had figured out a way. He lifted his little leg up as high as he could, so his toes could grab hold of the top of the side rail. Then he used his tiny muscled arms to pull himself up high enough that he could swing that leg over. He repositioned his arms so that he could get the other leg over and dangle there. Then he let go and dropped those three inches to the floor. DOH!

So nap and bed times are pretty fun now, NOT. After the first few times of putting him to bed and him showing up in the livingroom moments later, I learned to keep his door shut. But then you just hear him banging on the door and yelling to be let out. So now I know that he has to be dead tired before I put him for a nap, so tired that his eyes roll back as soon as his head hits the pillow and the bottle goes in his mouth. Bedtime last night was a nightmare. Four times I had to go in there and plop him back in the crib. That last time, after I snapped and yelled at him, he realized I meant business.

Tyler thinks he's ready for a big-boy bed now. HELL no! I'm not emotionally ready for that milestone yet. Its bad enough that he's starting to do big boy things like feeding himself, walking up the stairs (holding the rail, of course), trying to put on his own shoes, talking real words, singing songs. I'm kind of in denial that my baby isn't really a baby anymore. Getting rid of the crib just might cause an emotional breakdown.