End of an era

We have been using at least one crib in our house for almost exactly 6 1/2 years. For a little over one year we were using two cribs (December 2009 - January 2011). We had a little break during the summer of 2012 after Ian was promoted to a twin bed and before Oliver was discharged from the NICU. Ever since Oliver climbed out of his crib on Wednesday I have been dashing up to get him as soon he woke up. That did the trick on Thursday and Friday, but this morning he climbed out of his crib right before I entered his bedroom. I knew this meant we needed to take down his crib today, but I was dying of curiosity to see how he was doing it so I put him in the crib and asked him to climb out. I took a short video so I could show Paul and his siblings how he did it. Paul's theory had been then he was flipping himself over like he does when we play "skin the cat," but that wasn't the case. This evening he is sleeping on a twin sized mattress for the first time in his life. I don't think there will ever be a crib in our house again. I'm going to keep our pack and play to use for guests who bring a baby. It was very hard to get him to take his nap today, but he eventually stayed in his bed. Tonight we didn't have any troubles. I'm hoping he'll stay in there until at least 6:00 tomorrow morning! His mattress is only sitting on a box spring right now, but frankly it makes the distance shorter if he were to fall out of the bed. We will get a bed frame in the near future. They didn't have the twin size in stock at Sears today, and they cost twice as much at Sleepy's. His comforter is supposed to be delivered to our house on Tuesday. My baby is growing up. I admit it was an emotional thing for me to take off the crib bumper and such knowing I would never be using one again. These lasts can be hard on a Momma! I am very thankful though that the Lord gave me three children which translated to 6.5 years of having a little one sleeping in a crib in our house.