Last week, we transitioned Rhett out of the crib and into a big boy bed.  Not just any big boy bed though.  A big boy bed made by hand by handy-dandy Doug.  Doug has been wanting to build a piece of furniture for a long time, and when we started our hunt for a new bed for Rhett, we found that they were way too expensive for the kind of quality that we felt like we needed to last for a long time.  The Browns are long-term planners – we wanted a bed that Rhett could tell his fraternity brothers that he’d been sleeping on since before he was 2 years old.  So, Ikea was out of the question and Restoration Hardware was out of the budget.  Instead, we perused this website: Ana White Homemaker.  She has a lot of DIY plans for furniture of varying difficulty.  We finally chose this bed.  And Doug got to work while Rhett and I stayed comfortable inside.

The finished product with the builder and the sleeper

We set up the bed in his room and let him get used to it for about a week before we let him try sleeping in it.  The first naptime was a disaster.  He immediately fell out of the bed, crawling over the rails.  Two days later, we successfully tried again.  He slept for about 2 hours (about an hour shorter than his usual naps) and I heard him awake before he had a chance to get out.

The napper

Good nappers deserve ice cream

That night did not go so well.  We put him in his bed (after clearly communicating expectations of him not getting out), but he quickly realized the freedom he’d been given.  He used the opportunity to unload a toy box, go through his dirty laundry and unplug and hide his nightlight.  After about 30 minutes of correcting him, and then hearing more banging around, it was quiet.  After 15 minutes of silence, Doug snuck in to find him back in his bed, fast asleep.  I was shocked, as I had been prepared to let him sleep on the floor if he fought the bed too much.

Things changed at about 4 AM.  After hearing what he thought was someone breaking into the house, Doug jumped up out of bed (for some reason, in my middle-of-the-night delusion, I thought he was starting laundry – so I wasn’t worried).  He stood at the top of the stairs and then heard something that made him realize that Rhett was awake too, in addition to the robbers (Browns don’t think clearly at ungodly hours).  After a couple seconds of panic, Doug found Rhett in his bathroom…in the sink.  In the middle of the night, Rhett had taught himself how to reach and turn a doorknob, and then walked down the hall into the new baby’s room and into their shared bathroom, climbed onto the toilet, and onto the countertop, and in the sink.  The noise Doug heard that he thought were the bad guys was just a candle that Rhett had knocked off the countertop.  I was unable to pull myself together after the fear of what could have happened set in.  So, we let Rhett sleep the rest of the night in his crib.  The next day, we made Rhett’s room into a small prison for children – childproofing everything.

The next night’s sleep was successful.  Slept all night until woken up around 8 AM.  Here he is waking up from his first night’s sleep in his big bed.

Since then (one week ago), Rhett has transitioned well…with one exception.  A few nights ago, we heard him banging around before falling asleep (a routine that we haven’t figured out how to manage yet, but usually lasts only about 15 minutes).  This time though, I sensed that something was different and asked Doug to go check on him.  Moments later, I hear Doug running around upstairs yelling for Rhett.  Turned out, he had somehow gotten into his bathroom again, (maybe I didn’t close it all the way), and had gotten into the toilet.  Soaking wet.  Even his hair was wet.

My dad responds to this behavior with a laugh and a “he’s just a boy, he’s got to explore.”  To this, I must ask what in the world I would do if we had another boy?  I mean, I know I wouldn’t be the first mom to have two boys.  There are a few others out there.  But how?  How do you manage brothers?  With one boy, I am ready for us to move into a bounce house with no sharp corners, no concrete, no toilets or bathtubs for inquiring minds.