Beds, Beds, Beds

(Warning: the following blog does not contain any references to sex)

Last Sunday, we spent the afternoon in a furniture store, testing new beds. Ah, but there are some incredible beds, sleigh beds and beds with elaborate headboards and footboards. Beautiful arrangements of sheets and pillows that I can never quite arrange at home were all to be tested for their comfort levels. But, it was much smaller bed that we were after and we ended up testing a variety of toddler beds. Yes, Jude is approaching 3 years old and has still been sleeping in a crib. I know several parents of two-year-olds (and not-quite two-year-olds) who have already purchased toddler beds for their children, but, like potty training, I really think the level of readiness is different for each child. Jude tried only once to get out of his crib and he landed on the rug in his room, unhurt but afraid. Since then, he hasn’t even tried. His preferred method of getting our attention in the mornings is to bang the crib against the wall so that the resulting thud-thud-thud resonates through the entire house. As I have mentioned, he is also small for his age (cute, sure, but small), so there was never an issue of his outgrowing his bed physically. Still, he is almost three. It is time. So, we headed off to the store, allowing him to try out each of the beds to see what he would like while we tried to make our own determinations. We were down to two choices: a white toddler bed that sat a bit too far off the ground for my comfort and a set of bunk beds, black with a metal frame. In the end, we went with the bunk beds, planning ahead. Jude could easily get in and out of the bed and enjoyed playing on the bed, which we could only hope meant that he would sleep well on the bed also. We ordered the bed and it arrived Friday morning. While I was very sad to miss work Friday morning and not get to enjoy my boss’s morning criticisms, I was happy to supervise the arrival of the “big boy” bed. Jude was already at daycare, so I was anxious to see his face when he gets home. We (meaning Jeff, who has all of the muscles in our family) had to rearrange his bedroom in order to accommodate the new bed(s). He took to the bed immediately, playing on it and ultimately sleeping better than I could have dared to hope. The last two mornings, I have been awakened not by a thud, but by a small child calling out “I am waking up. I am waking up.” That makes me wake up with a smile on my face.
Our own room is completely taken over by our queen-size bed. A king-size bed simply wouldn’t fit into the tiny room. Between the bed and two dressers, nothing else will fit into the bedroom. Fortunately, the bed has drawers beneath it so there isn’t need for a nightstand. Otherwise we might never get to open and close the bedroom door. As I mentioned, the rooms are small. The bed always seemed quite spacious, despite the number of pillows and blankets I like to have and the addition of the cat, who sleeps on my feet every night. Recently, there was a new introduction to the bed: a body pillow. I had read about the body pillow while pregnant with Jude but never acquired one. But I am so glad that I finally gave it. Sleeping while quite pregnant can be uncomfortable, but the pillow provides comfort. I worried about placing it in the bed, a barrier in the middle of the bed, dividing husband and wife, but I needn’t have worried; there is more than enough room for all of us. Sleeping would be almost perfect if it weren’t for the 3:00 a.m. wake-up call I get from Sully each night, kicking and moving around. I like to think he is just trying to prepare me for the 3:00 a.m. feedings that will be coming soon enough.