You don't know what you've got until it's gone

Milo graduated from his crib to a big boy bed this week.

His grandparents brought Rob's old "super single" waterbed -- which has spent the last 20 years languishing in the crawl space under their house -- over on the ferry this past Monday, and Milo slept on it for the first time that night.

Of course, being the procrastinators we are, Rob and I didn't get the new foam mattress for the bed, like we were supposed to.

(Um... can I just say in our defence that we've had other things on our mind lately?)

And so -- once Rob and his dad hauled the bed into the house and put it together in Milo's room -- we decided to put Milo's crib mattress in it for the time being, just until his new foam mattress gets delivered on Saturday.

That poor little mattress looked lost inside the waterbed's huge cavity -- which hammered home the point that Milo's big boy bed is indeed VERY BIG.

Assuming he doesn't try to set it on fire at some point over the next 16 years, he'll probably be sleeping in that thing until he graduates from high school.

Just think of it: He's now sleeping in the bed in which he'll probably experience his first wet dream.

He might even lose his virginity in it.

Gaaagh!

Excuse me while I wash out my brain with soap and water...

Okay, I'm back.

So we filled the cavernous space around that tiny little crib mattress with blankets, pillows, and stuffed toys -- whatever would help ensure that Milo wouldn't roll off and go "thunk" in the middle of the night.

Thankfully, Milo took to the bed like a fish in... something... and has been enjoying blissfully long sleeps every night.

The person who hasn't been adjusting to this new situation very well is ME.

After he went to sleep that first night, it hit me. I will never see him standing in that crib again, rubbing his blankie under his nose as he waits for me to pick him up and bring him to my bed or the couch for a snuggle and some milk.

The sight of my little string-bean sleepyhead standing in that crib was one of my favourite things in the whole wide world.

And I never even took a picture of it.