The Great Fall of 2012

Last night was quite the night around here. Quite the night, indeed. My mom was visiting and when I asked Evalyn if she wanted to read the bible before bed, she said “Nana Bi-bo”. So, Nana came in, read the bible, said the prayers, sang the songs and put her in bed. This normally wouldn’t be an issue but it seems that she’s going through a little bit of a separation anxiety, Mama-only stage. I’m sure if I had been out of the house, she would have been fine. But, she knew I was right there and when she realized saying, “Nana bi-bo” meant Mommy wouldn’t be putting her to bed, she wasn’t impressed.

I could tell as soon as my mom came out of the room that Evalyn was not pumped. The cry wasn’t the normal fussing herself to sleep cry. I went in right away because I knew she wouldn’t calm down and also, I was worried about her falling out of the crib since I have found her attempting to climb out a few times over the past week. She was standing up, but wasn’t trying to climb out this time. I scooped her up, rocked, sang, and laid her back down. As usual. She said “night night” and kissed me just like normal, and snuggled with her lovey, so I thought she’d be fine. I walked out, shut the door, and a second later heard a big cry. Then a thump. Then another big cry.

I ran in and found her on her hands and knees on the floor beside the crib. It was obvious that she wasn’t hurt, because she calmed down fairly quickly once we were snuggling in the rocking chair, but she was obviously scared and shaken up over the ordeal. And, you know, so was I. My mom called Evan in from the shop, so he came in to deal with his two babies, who were both crying. He took her and tried to get her calmed down and back to bed while I whimpered in the corner, but she wanted Mama. So we brought her out of her room to the couch for a while to cool down. Clearly she was okay, because as soon as she heard the train outside, she stopped crying, said “Oh train!” and laughed. Once she seemed to be settled, Ev took her back into her room and read the bible, starting bedtime routine from the start.

It took her a little longer than normal to get herself settled and to sleep, but she definitely was much calmer and the cries were normal, fussing herself to sleep, cries. Once she fell asleep, about 45 minutes or an hour later than normal, I snuck in and arranged a few soft, cushy blankets on the floor around the crib – just in case. Thankfully, she slept the entire night without a peep. This morning, she seemed to be the one person in the house who forgot about the incident.

Of course, I was shaken up and upset about it. These kind of things hurt the Mama heart. Although, thanks to the trusty twitter, I was reassured that she’d be fine and so many of the other Mamas told me that their kids have pulled the same kind of stunts and have been okay. After she fell out, I thought about setting up the pack and play, so she couldn’t climb out. Evan thought we should stick to her crib, and trust that the scare of the fall would be enough to keep her from trying it again. So, hopefully he’s right. If not, the big girl bed may be closer in our future than we anticipated.