Last night in the crib

Lucas is our last baby (at least that is the plan).  So each of his “lasts” causes me to pause for a moment, soaking in the magic and sentiment of our last baby’s last things.  Sometimes you don’t realize it’s a “last” until after it’s happened.  I won’t know when I’ll change his last diaper, or tie his shoes for the last time.  So about six months ago, when we were ready for him to move out of the crib and into a big boy bed, I had to savor his last night of babyhood in the  nursery.

It was the last night we laid him in the crib.  The crib that was gifted to us by my parents when we were expecting our first baby.  The crib that kept three sweet babies safe and secure for a total of about six years.  The crib I stood by, swaying back and forth, back and forth, as babies’ eye lids gave way to sleep on countless occasions.

I had a harder time with this particular “last” so I made sure it happened on an evening when I was home and could document the entire bedtime routine in photos.  Because for this one last time, we would bathe him and dress him and read to him and lay him down to sleep as a baby in a nursery.  The following night we would bathe him and dress him and read to him and lay him down in a big boy bed!

“Little boys should never be sent to bed.  They always wake up a day older.” -Peter Pan

I love these images.  It’s as if that night is now frozen in time and placed right here where I can visit it whenever I want.  I love how photographs are like time machines in that way.  Because Lucas is a little boy now, but he will always be my baby.