No Lie

Daerik was having a hard morning. So hard that he was throwing tantrums and getting sent to his room every 15 minutes or so. One tantrum was so bad that we put him in his crib and took out all of his toys. I left the room and went downstairs to sit on the couch next to Josh. We were just sitting there looking out the window and listening to the music of Daerik's screams (hoarse screams from croup) from his room. Suddenly, I turned to Josh, "I wonder how long it will take him to realize that he can climb out of his crib whenever he wants to." To which I had the reply, "I don't know, but I like it this way."

When Daerik was about 1 1/2 he realized he could put his legs over the railing and climb out, but never actually did it. It lasted about 1 week and he apparently forgot about it, to my wonderful delight. The longer he stays in his crib, the longer he will sleep well and take good naps. When he no longer sleeps in a crib, there goes my two hour a day nap time to do whatever I want.

As Josh and I were discussing this very thing, all of a sudden the screams sounded a bit closer. Then another minute and they sounded even closer, even possibly coming from the stairs to the left of the couch. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We heard no thump from a child falling, nothing, but here we were sitting and the screaming kept sounding ever closer. I got up to investigate, turned the corner to look up the stairs, and who should I find halfway down the stairs? Yes, you guessed it, the neighbor kid. No really, yes, it was Daerik. The very moment Josh and I were discussing how wonderful it was that he hadn't discovered how to climb out of the crib yet he was doing that very same thing!! It was hard not to laugh, especially when Daerik was stil crying, no, hoarse screaming hysterically.

Gone are the moments that Daerik will play in his crib for 30 minutes in the morning until I am able to roll out of bed. Gone are the 2 hour naps. Now, he is independent. Now he can get out his crib whenever he wants. He can go have a midnight snack of crackers and juice, or play with his cars, or even come and wake us up, if he so chooses. Now are the days that I actually have to accept that my boy is not a baby anymore. That he can go potty in the potty, that he can get out of bed himself, that he can go into the fridge and get himself a glass of milk. Where did my baby go? How did he grow up so fast?