Back to bed

I had a proud mommy moment today. Nothing too special but just one of those moments where I realize I might actually have a clue how to parent after all! :)

So here is the story...
When we moved Gianna into a toddler bed, she had no door on her room and so we used a baby gate to keep the dogs out and to keep her in.
She did really well with the transition and I was SO proud (and pretty shocked) at how easy it all was, but gunner learned to jump the fence and I thought it would be nice to have a door on her room so we wouldn't have to sneak around anymore or keep the dogs from going down the hall. I figured, with as easy and she transitioned to the bed, surely a door wouldn't be much more difficult.
So I put the door back on her room.

BIG MISTAKE!

Since we put the door on, Gianna has spent EVERY nap asleep on the floor (after lots of crying) by her door (she looks under the door threw the crack until she falls asleep.)
And at night we have to sit in her room until she falls asleep...which sometimes takes a LONG time!
But since we would sit there until she fell asleep, she'd sleep in bed at night instead of on the floor.
I figured that she would eventually get used to the door but she hasn't and I think it caused some anxiety about sleep (I may have also used "sleep" as a threat recently. I know, parent of the year!)
Today though, I woke up before she did and I noticed she was on the floor by her door (she sticks books and stuff under the door when she sleeps there. I noticed a book, and a hanger...then I heard her breathing)

I was mortified.

John usually wakes up with her in the morning and she is up before he gets to her so we haven't really known for sure that she is sleeping in her bed. Who knows if she has been or hasn't been...
But she clearly woke up at some point last night and laid by the door, poor thing!
That was the last straw for me.
I came home from play group and told John that I didn't think we should close the door anymore, that we should use a gate.
He wasn't sure about it and thought we should stick it out because he didn't think it would make a difference.
So nap time came and we decided to see if it would make a difference (I was SURE it would)
I put her in her crib, walked towards the door (which is when she usually starts sobbing and getting out of bed.)
She started to fuss and then I put the gate up and walked down the hall.

Guess who fell asleep and stayed in her crib her entire nap without any crying!?
GIGI!!

She looked at me at one point from her room (I was in the living room) and she smiled.
I died.
It's like she was thanking me.

It was a proud motherly instinct moment.
I knew it would make a huge difference.

Now hopefully we can get our lives back on schedule. Us going to bed at 4am and Gianna going to bed sometime around midnight is killing us!