In Which Avram and Thora Experience Sleep

We've been somewhat trying to move Lydia from our bed to her own crib in the other room. There has only been limited success, because after the first two nights, the first time that she cried we brought her into our bed, instead of taking the time and effort to settle her down again. We had tried this before, about four or five months ago, with complete and total failure. I've enjoyed having Lydia sleep with us, because it made nighttime nursing much, much easier, but I'm ready to be done with night nursing, and both Avram and I would like some space in our bed.
Lydia used to share a bed with us very well, but now she has an aversion to covers, and so will kick them off, or change her position to sideways so that she can avoid them. The second option means Avram and I each have a small strip to sleep on, while she holds down the majority of the bed.
This most recent half-hearted attempt seems to be working miraculously! At first Lydia would wake up at 10 or 11, and then after settling her down she'd sleep until anywhere from 1-3. Not too bad (for us, at least). But the last several nights she's been moving into an even better schedule; we lay her down at 9, and then she sleeps until oneish. Then a couple of nights ago she slept until 3. And last night she slept straight from 9 until 6 in the morning in her own crib.
It was heaven, and I hope that it wasn't just a freak experience, and that this wonderful sleep (and no night nursing) will continue from here on out.
This has happened a few times; Avram and I will decide that Lydia needs to do something, like take naps by herself, sleep through the night, etc, and first I'll try and implement it, and have no real success no matter how hard I try, and then a few months later Lydia just eases into it with minimal effort. I guess children really have their own timeline, independent of what parents think should happen.