Little Girl, Big Bed

We'd been planning to move Emilia to her big girl room sometime around her second birthday. In fact, we'd been hoping to get her a new bed too, but these things can be rather expensive, so we settled for a new-to-her bed (the futon that had served as my couch in Utah) and new paint. The previous owner was something of an artist, and the walls of this house had been her canvas. You may remember the beachless bathroom, our original palimpsest, where the Kay family was replaced by Pecan Sandie and white wainscoting. Our second big painting project was 'Nalli's hall', an English garden with wrought iron gate repainted cream to match our living room.

We had a choice when it came to Emilia's room. The one with the avocado walls and the giant white orchid in the corner, or the one done up in a wave motif of pearlescent blues and whites. We went with the latter because the window frames in that room were natural pine, an easier segue to a woodland theme than trim white. Then as a family we went to Canadian Tire and picked a promising colour for the transformation: Angel Cloud, a pale beige with a hint of pink. Too pale, in fact, and also too pink. We chalked that coat up to expensive primer and returned with the second can to have it retinted a darker, less blushy colour. Angel Cloud became Vanilla Chai. Darker, yes, but still too pink; back to Canadian Tire we went. This time we had to buy a new can, but we finally achieved the long-sought colour: Desert Floor. All that remained last night were the touch-ups. We'd do those while Emilia was sleeping next door in her nursery and have her moved in by the weekend. Only Emilia didn't want to wait.

At some level she must have known that this was her new room. She certainly knew that the cast iron owls and snails were hers. "Owl! Sail!" she'd say and point. Plus, the futon mattress was there with sheets, a pillow, and a duvet, and we'd cuddled and read stories on it just hours before. We really weren't expecting, though, that she'd pick it over her crib when it was time for bed. But pick it she did. She climbed onto the mattress with her little pink puppy under one arm, put her head on the pillow, and pulled the duvet over her legs. It was that simple. Mommy and Papa decided on the spot that touch-ups could wait. We each gave her a kiss and Papa closed the door. Twenty minutes of silence, then: "Happy!" (repeated once every 10-15 seconds or so until she fell asleep). We sneaked a peek around 10:00, and she was just where we'd left her, in bed and covered, with her dog in her arms. I was curious as to whether I'd find her in the same position come morning, but once again Emilia's plan differed from mine. I found her walking around, examining the baseboards and saying something that sounded a lot like "sherbet".

That's our Emilia.