Another Rite of Passage

It's Saturday, 1:15pm. Ellie's been in her room for about 15 minutes now, unwinding before she naps. We hear her talking to herself as usual. Suddenly, we hear a strange sound coming from her room. It's a doorknob, turning. And a door opening. Harry and I both look at each other, that deer-in-the-headlights look on both our faces. I race down the hall to find my little girl emerging from her room.

Ellie has figured out how to get out of her crib.

Sigh.

I calmly put her back in, telling her she's not supposed to get out of her crib. It's time to take a nap.

1 hour later, and she hasn't tried to climb out again. She also has not slept. At all.

She manages a nap later on in the day on the way back from a visit with Grandma B at the nursing home, so at least there's that.

She goes to bed as usual that night. And she wakes up on Sunday as usual, too. No climbing. I order a safety rail anyway. Just in case.

Sunday night, she tries to climb INTO the crib. OK. We pick her up and put her in, ready to say goodnight. Ellie decides now would be a good time to show Mommy and Daddy exactly how she gets out. Clever little girl. She swings one leg over the rail, shifts her butt up onto it (it's about 3-4 inches wide), hooks her hands around the adjoining rail, and slowly slides over the edge, using her foot against the wall to stop herself from falling too fast, finding the radiator to stop entirely, then stepping off to the floor.

That safety rail can't get here fast enough!