Andrew and his big boy bed

Despite all the activity in the last couple of months, two very important milestones have been achieved by Andrew...potty training and the transition from crib to big boy bed. In hindsight, it almost seems like the potty training was the easier of the two. With respect to potty training, all of a sudden, it just clicked...and he began to tell me every time he had to do a pee-pee or caca (poop in French!). I was a little concerned, as the "click" happened just two days before we left for Canada in June, but my concerns were unfounded...he stayed dry the whole time we were there, airplane rides included. I was SOOOO proud of him. He still wears a diaper during the night, though it has often been dry in the morning. With respect to his new bed, I was delighted to find a bargain online from a Canadian couple relocating and selling all of their furniture. We decorated his room in new Thomas bedding, Thomas decals, and several new toys including his new fave, his beloved tool box! The first few nights were surprisingly a breeze. We laid down with him for a few minutes and he was out in no time. Then he came to the realization that he can get OUT of the bed...and so the pattern began...Andrew getting up, and us putting him back down. We did some research on how to best handle this, and it seems the best advice so far has been to simply explain to him that his new bed is for sleeping and for having nice dreams (and now we talk about what he wants to dream about each night...usually Karl's car or fixing things with Daddy) and that the rule at bedtime is that Andrew stays in bed. Knock on wood, but it's been two days now, and it seems to have clicked...he has not gotten out of bed when he's been put down. However, he has started a little pattern of waking up at 2 or 3 am, walking over to Daddy's side of the bed, and Daddy returning him to bed after a short snuggle. The next challenge will be to get him to stay in the bed all the way through the night...but I'm feeling positive that it won't take too long to achieve that goal.