The Escape Artist

Way back in the beginning of August, I left my little one in the care of my mother, known round these parts as Grandma (Ahma). When we said goodbye to little Bella on Thursday evening, she was a darling little baby girl who slept like a rock without much complaint in her pack & play.

Apparently Grandma fed her some type of evil chocolate because during the three nights she spent with Grandma, she morphed from our sweetheart baby into The Escape Artist. Every time Grandma put her down in the pack & play and left the room, Bella Wayne would run to the corner, hoist herself up (with much groaning and grunting), throw a leg over and shimmy out.

Since that fateful weekend, Bella has refused to remain constrained in a pack & play. This left us with only one solution: Naptime in the crib. She took naps in the crib during the winter and spring, but it gets too hot upstairs for the summer. However, had no choice - so we surrounded her with fans and laid her down in her crib. For the past 23 days, this strategy has worked perfectly.

And then today happened. I laid her down as usual, tucked her cribmates in with her (Tasha, Diego, Moe - which is what she calls Elmo), turned on her fans, said "night night Bella" and left the room. I was downstairs about three minutes when I heard the thud. Then a minute or so later, I heard the musical stylings of her number spinner.

I came up the stairs disbelieving that she could actually get out of the crib that fast without hurting herself. Lo and behold, she was standing in the middle of the floor trying to climb up into the doll stroller! Just having herself a grand ol' time. So, I put her back in the crib and went through the naptime routine again - only this time, instead of leaving for good, I ran for the camera. Here is what ensued:

I'd like to state that I am currently updating from the glider in Bella's room. I had to sit in here until she fell asleep because the minute I left her line of vision, she was at the corner of the crib, hoisting herself up. I had to tell her "night night Bella" at least five times ... but she's finally asleep.

What am I going to do with this girl?!