The Great Escape

So far, each Thanksgiving has brought a new first for Luke: last year he ate his first solid food (squash), and this year he learned how to get out of his crib. I liked last year's better.

Actually, The Great Escape, as we've been calling it, first took place in his pack-n-play while we were at Kim & Declan's. The adults were sitting in the living room on Thanksgiving night, assuming that Luke was asleep downstairs. Brigitte got quite a surprise when she went to the top of the stairs just to listen, when she saw him climbing up the stairs, looking determined and triumphant. We were all quite shocked, though agreed that it's a wonder the little climber didn't pull it off sooner.

So for the next two days of naps and bedtimes I had to lie with him on the bed while he fell asleep, then transport him to the pack-n-play once he was out cold.

Fast forward to last night when we returned from Virginia and put the sleepy child in his real crib back home. I figured it would be a little more difficult for him to pull off The Escape here, since the crib sides are higher than the pack-n-play ones. Keith knew it would be no problem now that he had the technique down.

Around midnight Keith and I were lying in bed and heard Luke stirring on the monitor. I must admit that was waiting nervously to hear a crash, yet hoping he'd be too tired to attempt The Escape. But sure enough, it only took a few minutes until we heard him hit the floor upstairs. No crying, though, which was a good sign. We jumped out of bed and found him standing calmly at the gate on top of the stairs waiting for us. He spent the rest of the night in our bed.

Obviously scaling the walls of the crib is now child's play for him, so we've decided that rather than waiting nervously for the crash each night, we'll install the toddler bed attachment for his crib and acclimate him to sleeping in an almost big-boy bed. I anticipate many nights of going up there to put him back in it, and waking up to a room littered with books and toys, but it's just another stage in his quest for independence.

Oh, and here's how it's done... the first step anyway: