Kate is a phenomenal sleeper.

She was sleeping through the night at 3 months. That’s when we started putting her in her crib full-time.

We put her to sleep every night at 8:30 and unless she’s sick she almost always wakes up 12 hours later. Incredible. I can’t even do that.

Ever since she was three months old her bedtime routine has been pretty much the same. I give her a bath, get her changed, go downstairs to say goodnight to Mommy, and then I take her upstairs to her room. She sits on my lap and I rock her to sleep in a rocking chair in her darkened room. Usually she falls asleep after about five to ten minutes, but sometimes it takes longer – depends what kind of day she’s had.

Once she’s asleep I lay her in her crib, close the door behind me, flip on the video baby monitor and head back downstairs to watch TV or play video games with Tammy. Easy.

Last night was different.

We said goodnight to Mommy, went upstairs to Kate’s room, and I flipped off the light. As I was about to sit down Kate pointed to her crib. I said “Do you want to go in your crib?” and she nodded her head. (She’s good with giving yes/no answers nowadays.)

In my head I thought “Yeah, right.” but I gave it a shot. I put her down on her back in her crib, fully awake. As soon as I let go she said “Byyyyeeee!” and waved to me. Then she stuck her thumb in her mouth and rolled over on her side to fall asleep without my help.

So I guess that’s the end of an era.