Prison Break

A couple of days ago I put Nicknack down for his nap in his crib. A few minutes later we heard him crying, in the hall. WHAT?!

We checked the crib. The rail was up. The small bookcase next to the crib was undisturbed. There was nothing inside his crib to climb up on.

"I guess he can climb out of his crib! Maybe it was just a fluke?" We couldn't believe it!

Penn stayed to rock N while I made a quick call to my mother.

Several minutes later Penn came out and quietly asked me to hang up. I assumed he wanted my help with Nicknack - maybe he'd thrown up or P needed help giving him a dose of medicine.

But he handed me the cell phone and said in a low voice, "We're checking the house for intruders."

"WHAT?! WHY?!"

"Shh!"

With trembling hands I dialed 9-1-1 and had my finger at the ready to press the send button. On both the cordless and cell phone. Just to be doubly ready. Then I followed him down the hall to Nicknack's door.

Penn conducted a thorough search beginning with both of Nicknack's closets, then our bathroom, closet, and bedroom, then the hall bath, guest room, study room, powder room, laundry room, and garage. I never realized how closets we have in this house until we searched each one as my heart pounded.

The whole time I was thinking, "Penn must have heard someone talking or a very distinctive noise. He must have some reason to be very certain someone is in the house." Penn is not the paranoid, anxious type. I am!

I'm always hearing noises and asking "What was THAT!?" I'm scared of the dark. I can't sleep alone. Each night I drill Penn about every access point to our home.

Is the back door locked?

Yes.

Even the deadbolt?

Yes.

How about the front door? Did you lock both locks?

Yes.

Is the alarm set?

Yes.

Is the alley (garage) door double locked? And Is the lawnmower pushed in front of the door?

Yes and yes.

Did you open any windows today, and, if so, did you close and double bolt them?

The windows are fine, honey.



Sometimes even when he's answered all these questions in the affirmative I still have to check myself.

Penn is is usually very patient and puts up with my tendency to worry. But he never participates. So I was certain that he wouldn't go through all this without some good reason to think it necessary.

Finally, when the house was thoroughly searched and every door and window was checked, I put down the phone. Maybe he'd heard someone in the alley (side yard) between our house and the neighbors.

"There is just NO WAY he got out of that crib all by himself!"

I let out the longest sigh in the world and then started laughing. "Honey, sometimes toddlers figure out how to crawl out of their cribs! It's very common!"

"It IS?"

"YES!"

He says he was just sitting there, rocking Nicknack, when he started looking around the room and thinking about it. How could he have gotten out? Nothing in the room showed any sign of him climbing or falling out. It was then got a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and convinced himself that someone had taken Nicknack out of his crib.

I just think it's so funny that my husband, of all people, would have such a silly and illogical thought. Never mind the fact that he almost gave me a heart attack!

As he likes to point out, he's new at this.

And, just in case you are wondering, I have now witnessed our son climb out of his crib several times. So it 100% for certain, was not an afternoon cat burglar who specializes in removing children from their beds, leaving them in their hallways, then hiding.

So now we are stuck with the age-old question. Mattress on the floor or one of those crib tent things?

It took me over two hours to get him down for his nap on his temporary bed today, so I'm considering the tent solution.

What do you think? How did you handle the crib to bed transition? And how old were they? Nicknack is about 19 months.