Big girl bed.

By Halloween SS had made it abundantly clear that she wanted a "big girl bed." She has left her crib on her own once, we filmed her reenacting her escape, and she never did it again. She would call for one of us and patiently wait. Must admit that we were spoiled, because we did not have to worry about her wandering around in the middle of the night, getting into G0d knows what kind of mischief. Then again there's the fact that SS needs to have someone or something close to her when she sleeps. That security was provided by her crib, whenever she slept in it.

But the kid is rapidly approaching her fifth birthday and it is time to let go. Two months ago P did the conversion, and we got ready for SS's transition into Big Girl Land. Said transition was short lived, because SS's idea of a big girl bed vastly differs from ours. When we purchased SS's crib durability was an issue. P wanted something sturdy, I wanted a crib that would convert into a toddler bed. Because of SS's size, she will easily fit in the toddler bed for the next two years. Then we could invest an equally obscene amount of money into a full size bed and bedroom set. But our dear SS was not part of the decision making process, and we failed to inform her once she came home. SS is still, for the most, squatting on our bed again.

Say what? Yep, SS is not pleased with her big girl bed. Shortly after the conversion I was in bed reading, while P and SS were snoozing away. Well, so I though. It was past midnight when I heard Sula say "Mama my bed is not good enough." I thought she was talking in her sleep, but when I turned around I was greeted by very open, beautiful almond shaped eyes. I asked her to repeat what she said, and yes, I heard her correctly. I asked her what bed would be good enough; SS patted the mattress and confidently said "this one." Our 34 pound, 39 inch bundle of self-entitlement wants a king size bed. And she is royally teed off that we did not high tail it to the nearest furniture store to get her her own king size bed. Heck, JJ was a big boy and we bought him a full size bed and it was good enough for him.

So what happens when SS does not get her way, no matter how unreasonable her request might be? SS retaliates by trying to break us down with her scary ability to repeat the same phrase at the top of her lungs for hours. Our tiny tormentor is acutely aware that this downright dirty, low of the lowest technique is far more effective at three in the morning. That is when she wakes up in her bed and begins screaming "Mama, my bed is not good enough, not good enough Mama." And she keeps that up for far too long. Poor P can't sleep through the ruckus, so there we are, both of us staring at the ceiling, waiting for the storm to pass. When we think she is done and try to get back to sleep she blindsides us, our precocious guerrilla warrior starts again, she was just resting her voice. But this time it is "Baba my bed is not good enough..." And that is another round of torture. We would gladly be waterboarded instead. The silver lining is that if SS tackles her academic work and life in general with the same tenacity she will be very successful.

Apropos to nighttime issues, SS had us closely watching over her last night. She was laying on her back like in the picture below. It's kind of funny that she still sleeps like an infant. I don't recall JJ doing that at her age...

But I digress... SS had bilateral spasms on her limbs for about half an hour. They were not severe, but we would not characterize them as mild either. P said that it reminded him of me, but in my case it is only my legs jerking throughout the night. It did not disturb SS's sleep, but it is definitely something to talk about with Dr. S when SS has her 5 year old checkup next month.