The Boogie is singing in her room right now:
"Happy dirday to you,
Happy dirday to you,
Happy dirday to Honey,
Happy dirday to you!"
I love that kid.
August 31, 2009
August 30, 2009
Eeek! A Spider!
Not really. The Boogie has a large plastic spider that she likes to make "crawl" up us until we shriek in mock terror and throw it across the room. She thinks it is hilarious.
When she is worried about something she says, "Oh no! Wha' we po'tsa do?" [What are we supposed to do.]
If she is perplexed by something she says, "Wha' da worl'?" [What in the world?]
The other night in the car during her running monologue we caught this: "Oh, waiter. -- Yes? -- What's in my soup?"
Yesterday she sniffed at something, wrinkled her nose and commented, "Hmm, smells ... like ... garbage!"
She is very polite and likes to introduce herself. "Hi," she'll say to anyone, including family, as she pats her chest, "I Boogie." Then she points to me and My Man saying, "Dat's Honey. Dat's Daddy." She likes to pretend she's someone else, too. "Hi!" she says to me, "I Honey!" I play along and say in a deep voice, "Oh, you're Honey? Hi Honey, I'm Daddy." Sometimes she's "Plablo" or Tyrone or Tasha from "The Backyardigans." It's cute to see her imagination at work.
She loves to sing. At any given time she will be humming or singing. Lately every now and then she'll lapse into a Bob Dylan-like method. I don't believe she's ever heard Bob Dylan and I cannot figure out where she picked this up. But it is distinctly Dylanesque.
Last night she peed in her potty again. I think this makes 3 times! I really don't think she's ready, so we're not pushing anything. If she's interested in sitting there for a few minutes we'll set her up with a couple of books and see if something happens.
My Man worked hard this week helping his dad with the new deck at 52. They did a great job and the deck looks awesome! Unfortunately on Wednesday while clearing out a few trees and some brush they encountered what we think must have been poison sumac. He noticed some scratches and raised bumps on Thursday. By Friday morning he had some blistering, and by Friday night some of the blisters on his legs were HUGE. My poor Man. He's been very uncomfortable. He wasn't the only one to develop blisters but his are the worst. Hopefully it won't bother him to wear boots tomorrow.
It's been a good week. My Man has to go back to work tomorrow but next Monday is Labor Day so that means three-day-weekend! We think for his next furlough at the end of September we'll try to take a couple of days for something fun.
Bedtime for Boogies ...
When she is worried about something she says, "Oh no! Wha' we po'tsa do?" [What are we supposed to do.]
If she is perplexed by something she says, "Wha' da worl'?" [What in the world?]
The other night in the car during her running monologue we caught this: "Oh, waiter. -- Yes? -- What's in my soup?"
Yesterday she sniffed at something, wrinkled her nose and commented, "Hmm, smells ... like ... garbage!"
She is very polite and likes to introduce herself. "Hi," she'll say to anyone, including family, as she pats her chest, "I Boogie." Then she points to me and My Man saying, "Dat's Honey. Dat's Daddy." She likes to pretend she's someone else, too. "Hi!" she says to me, "I Honey!" I play along and say in a deep voice, "Oh, you're Honey? Hi Honey, I'm Daddy." Sometimes she's "Plablo" or Tyrone or Tasha from "The Backyardigans." It's cute to see her imagination at work.
She loves to sing. At any given time she will be humming or singing. Lately every now and then she'll lapse into a Bob Dylan-like method. I don't believe she's ever heard Bob Dylan and I cannot figure out where she picked this up. But it is distinctly Dylanesque.
Last night she peed in her potty again. I think this makes 3 times! I really don't think she's ready, so we're not pushing anything. If she's interested in sitting there for a few minutes we'll set her up with a couple of books and see if something happens.
My Man worked hard this week helping his dad with the new deck at 52. They did a great job and the deck looks awesome! Unfortunately on Wednesday while clearing out a few trees and some brush they encountered what we think must have been poison sumac. He noticed some scratches and raised bumps on Thursday. By Friday morning he had some blistering, and by Friday night some of the blisters on his legs were HUGE. My poor Man. He's been very uncomfortable. He wasn't the only one to develop blisters but his are the worst. Hopefully it won't bother him to wear boots tomorrow.
It's been a good week. My Man has to go back to work tomorrow but next Monday is Labor Day so that means three-day-weekend! We think for his next furlough at the end of September we'll try to take a couple of days for something fun.
Bedtime for Boogies ...
August 26, 2009
Curious Boogie Goes To The Zoo
Yesterday we got to go to the Philadelphia Zoo. It was the perfect day to go, not too warm or humid. There were lots of people there! We walked around for several hours until the Boogie was exhausted and our feet hurt. It was really fun and hopefully we can do it again soon.
I didn't take that many pictures but here are a few.
Right outside the brand-new avian center was a bird show. Aren't they beautiful? We were fascinated by how well they are trained.
This guy cracked me up, just sitting there watching everyone with his chin in his hand.
Two minutes after we got in the car to go home the Boogie looked like this. She was wiped out!
On the way home my car started overheating. We found somewhere to pull over and it turns out the fan isn't working. Praise the Lord we didn't hit any traffic and were able to keep moving. Hopefully it will be an easy fix.
The Boogie knows what this cupholder is for! Too bad it doesn't fit!
I didn't take that many pictures but here are a few.
Right outside the brand-new avian center was a bird show. Aren't they beautiful? We were fascinated by how well they are trained.
This guy cracked me up, just sitting there watching everyone with his chin in his hand.
Two minutes after we got in the car to go home the Boogie looked like this. She was wiped out!
On the way home my car started overheating. We found somewhere to pull over and it turns out the fan isn't working. Praise the Lord we didn't hit any traffic and were able to keep moving. Hopefully it will be an easy fix.
The Boogie knows what this cupholder is for! Too bad it doesn't fit!
August 24, 2009
Klutz!
I fell down the stairs at work today. How embarrassing. Thankfully no one saw me and I'm fine, except for a little rugburn on the front of my left leg and a twisted left ankle. The doctor adjusted it for me so it's only a little bit achy tonight.
Hopefully it will be all better by tomorrow because we're going to the zoo! I'm excited about that. I haven't been to the Philly zoo yet. The weather today was beautiful -- nice and cool this morning and even though it got warm later it wasn't too humid. I'm praying that tomorrow will be just as lovely.
My Man worked very hard today, ripping up his parents' deck. He'll go back on Wednesday to help his dad start building the new one. A day off tomorrow will give his blistered hands a chance to recover, since he refuses to wear gloves!
The Boogie spent the whole day at 52. She and I went over in the morning to do some laundry, and she stayed while I went to work. She was kind of ornery today: she poured water on the floor twice and colored on a step! Praise the Lord for washable crayons, right? Her Mom mom caught her coloring and when she reprimanded her the Boogie hung her head and said softly, "I sorry, Mom mom." At least she was repentant, I guess. I have to confess that we all thought it was kind of funny ... eventually.
Today's Boogie-ism: "stucking" used in place of "stuck." "Honey, he'p! I stucking!"
Hopefully it will be all better by tomorrow because we're going to the zoo! I'm excited about that. I haven't been to the Philly zoo yet. The weather today was beautiful -- nice and cool this morning and even though it got warm later it wasn't too humid. I'm praying that tomorrow will be just as lovely.
My Man worked very hard today, ripping up his parents' deck. He'll go back on Wednesday to help his dad start building the new one. A day off tomorrow will give his blistered hands a chance to recover, since he refuses to wear gloves!
The Boogie spent the whole day at 52. She and I went over in the morning to do some laundry, and she stayed while I went to work. She was kind of ornery today: she poured water on the floor twice and colored on a step! Praise the Lord for washable crayons, right? Her Mom mom caught her coloring and when she reprimanded her the Boogie hung her head and said softly, "I sorry, Mom mom." At least she was repentant, I guess. I have to confess that we all thought it was kind of funny ... eventually.
Today's Boogie-ism: "stucking" used in place of "stuck." "Honey, he'p! I stucking!"
August 23, 2009
I Forgot!
One more cool gift I got, from the R family:
I love old movies and tv shows so they got me these stamps! What an awesome gift idea, huh? I think they are so cool I don't know if I'll be able to bring myself to use them! :)
I love old movies and tv shows so they got me these stamps! What an awesome gift idea, huh? I think they are so cool I don't know if I'll be able to bring myself to use them! :)
August 22, 2009
Miss Bossy
This afternoon the Boogie was eating pretzels with her lunch. Her daddy helped himself to one off her tray. "Daddy!" she scolded, holding out her hand, "Das my p'etzel! Spit it out!"
Everything lately is preceded by "bery, bery" like this: "I bery, bery hungry. I bery, bery s'eepy. I bery, bery poopy." The other night after church we went downstairs to have some amazing lemonade pie that HR made. The Boogie played happily with her cousins and H-man for a while but soon became overtired and overwhelmed. Something insignificant happened and set off much crying. I said goodnight to everyone and brought her upstairs where she sobbed, "I wanna see H-man. I wanna see Daaaaaaaddy. I wanna take a nappies." I did my best to console her while getting her ready for bed. "Honey," she wept, "I bery, bery saaaaaad!"
I borrowed Mary Poppins from the library and the Boogie loves it. When we turn it on for her she shouts exitedly, "Ma'y Poppinins! Ma'y Poppinins!" She tries to say "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and gallops around yelling, "view hallooo!" She pulls one of my birthday balloons around behind her while singing, "Let's go fly a kite." She comes up to us and introduces herself, "Hi, I Michael." She tells us, "I goin' to the bank." Yes, she has watched it too many times already.
My birthday was Wednesday. I had to work but it was still a really nice day. The doctor takes the whole office out to lunch for each person's birthday. The Boogie is always invited. Sometimes she can be shy around everyone but this time she was happy and chatty. After work I went over to 52 where the whole family had gathered for brownies and ice cream. My Man made the brownies AND homemade cream cheese frosting to put on them! They were so yummy. I got flowers and a balloon, money, gift cards, new kitchen towels, a purse, and a necklace with matching earrings. My Man gave me the first year of my blog printed and bound! He had BIL1 do it for him. It's something I've been wanting to have done and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. My grandma, parents, and all of my siblings called me to wish me a happy birthday, some of them many times. :) It was a lovely day.
Today we had planned to go to a car show, but Hurricane Bill has brought lots of rain our way so we went to Target instead. My Man said something about going to the shore to see the giant waves -- now I wish we had! I think it would have been fun.
Next week is My Man's first furlough from work. Things at his job have really slowed down so they're laying off 25% of the employees at a time on a rotation. I won't say it's not worrying, but for now we're thankful that he still has a job and that he can file for unemployment for the week that he is laid off. It will be nice to have him around more for a few days! Next week he's going to help his dad work on the deck at 52, and I still will be working, but we're planning to take one day and go to the zoo.
Time to start the bedtime routine with the Boogie!
Everything lately is preceded by "bery, bery" like this: "I bery, bery hungry. I bery, bery s'eepy. I bery, bery poopy." The other night after church we went downstairs to have some amazing lemonade pie that HR made. The Boogie played happily with her cousins and H-man for a while but soon became overtired and overwhelmed. Something insignificant happened and set off much crying. I said goodnight to everyone and brought her upstairs where she sobbed, "I wanna see H-man. I wanna see Daaaaaaaddy. I wanna take a nappies." I did my best to console her while getting her ready for bed. "Honey," she wept, "I bery, bery saaaaaad!"
I borrowed Mary Poppins from the library and the Boogie loves it. When we turn it on for her she shouts exitedly, "Ma'y Poppinins! Ma'y Poppinins!" She tries to say "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and gallops around yelling, "view hallooo!" She pulls one of my birthday balloons around behind her while singing, "Let's go fly a kite." She comes up to us and introduces herself, "Hi, I Michael." She tells us, "I goin' to the bank." Yes, she has watched it too many times already.
My birthday was Wednesday. I had to work but it was still a really nice day. The doctor takes the whole office out to lunch for each person's birthday. The Boogie is always invited. Sometimes she can be shy around everyone but this time she was happy and chatty. After work I went over to 52 where the whole family had gathered for brownies and ice cream. My Man made the brownies AND homemade cream cheese frosting to put on them! They were so yummy. I got flowers and a balloon, money, gift cards, new kitchen towels, a purse, and a necklace with matching earrings. My Man gave me the first year of my blog printed and bound! He had BIL1 do it for him. It's something I've been wanting to have done and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. My grandma, parents, and all of my siblings called me to wish me a happy birthday, some of them many times. :) It was a lovely day.
Today we had planned to go to a car show, but Hurricane Bill has brought lots of rain our way so we went to Target instead. My Man said something about going to the shore to see the giant waves -- now I wish we had! I think it would have been fun.
Next week is My Man's first furlough from work. Things at his job have really slowed down so they're laying off 25% of the employees at a time on a rotation. I won't say it's not worrying, but for now we're thankful that he still has a job and that he can file for unemployment for the week that he is laid off. It will be nice to have him around more for a few days! Next week he's going to help his dad work on the deck at 52, and I still will be working, but we're planning to take one day and go to the zoo.
Time to start the bedtime routine with the Boogie!
August 18, 2009
The Donkey Says What?
Last week while driving in the car we passed a billboard with Jane Goodall and a gorilla on it. "Look, honey!" said the Boogie, "A monkey!"
"What does a monkey say?" I asked her.
The Boogie: "Ooh-ooh, ee-ee, ah-ah-ah."
Me: "And what does a cow say?"
TB: "Mooooo."
Me: "And what does a kitty say?"
TB: "Meow, meow."
Me: "And what does a donkey say?"
Long pause.
TB: "DONK!"
Me: "What? Donk? Are you sure?"
TB: "Uh-huh. Donk donk donk."
It made me laugh every time I thought about it for the rest of the day. Later I took a little video with my phone.
What a silly little Boogie.
"What does a monkey say?" I asked her.
The Boogie: "Ooh-ooh, ee-ee, ah-ah-ah."
Me: "And what does a cow say?"
TB: "Mooooo."
Me: "And what does a kitty say?"
TB: "Meow, meow."
Me: "And what does a donkey say?"
Long pause.
TB: "DONK!"
Me: "What? Donk? Are you sure?"
TB: "Uh-huh. Donk donk donk."
It made me laugh every time I thought about it for the rest of the day. Later I took a little video with my phone.
What a silly little Boogie.
August 17, 2009
Binkie Elimination: Complete
Yesterday at naptime the Boogie asked for it. I showed her the little flower pot that we used to keep them in. "See, it's empty," I told her. She got into her crib and started looking under her pillow and blanket for it. I showed her the pot again. "They're all gone!" I said cheerfully. And that was that!
She has gone to bed peacefully four nights in a row. Naptimes have been a little more difficult, but I think that's more because she just doesn't want to sleep in her crib. Lately she's been asking a lot to "go onna couch." After she cried for thirty minutes yesterday I got her out of her crib. She climbed up on the couch and was passed out in less than five minutes!
I'm seeing the signs that it's time for a big-girl bed, so we're planning to transition her next month. She will get my old twin bed ... which was my mom's when she was a girl! I love that I get to pass it on to the Boogie. There is actually a whole set: twin canopy bed, dresser with mirror, nightstand, and desk with chair. For now the dresser and nightstand are in our room and the desk is what's holding up this computer! But eventually she can have the whole set. I never had the canopy set up on my bed and I'm not sure if I even brought that part with me when I moved here. If I didn't it's still in my parents' garage somewhere. The bed is pretty by itself though and I'm excited to clean it up and put some fun girly bedding on it. I think the Boogie will do great in a regular bed.
After the transition from crib to big-girl bed will come ... potty-training. I'm not even ready to start thinking about THAT.
She has gone to bed peacefully four nights in a row. Naptimes have been a little more difficult, but I think that's more because she just doesn't want to sleep in her crib. Lately she's been asking a lot to "go onna couch." After she cried for thirty minutes yesterday I got her out of her crib. She climbed up on the couch and was passed out in less than five minutes!
I'm seeing the signs that it's time for a big-girl bed, so we're planning to transition her next month. She will get my old twin bed ... which was my mom's when she was a girl! I love that I get to pass it on to the Boogie. There is actually a whole set: twin canopy bed, dresser with mirror, nightstand, and desk with chair. For now the dresser and nightstand are in our room and the desk is what's holding up this computer! But eventually she can have the whole set. I never had the canopy set up on my bed and I'm not sure if I even brought that part with me when I moved here. If I didn't it's still in my parents' garage somewhere. The bed is pretty by itself though and I'm excited to clean it up and put some fun girly bedding on it. I think the Boogie will do great in a regular bed.
After the transition from crib to big-girl bed will come ... potty-training. I'm not even ready to start thinking about THAT.
August 15, 2009
Binkie Elimination: Night Three
Last night we put that child in bed and she just went to sleep. She didn't cry. She didn't call for either of us. It was wonderful. Praise the Lord, this has been WAY easier than I ever anticipated!
Now we're on Night Four and so far so good ...
Today we went to Ikea. We had lunch and walked around gathering things to buy. We were there for three hours! The Boogie sat in the cart singing and talking loudly and waving hello to everyone. She got lots of smiles back. We picked up some items for the nursery at church and I'm so pleased with how it all turned out. It will be nice to have some new things in there and it didn't cost too much, either!
*yawn* I think it's time for bed and a book.
Now we're on Night Four and so far so good ...
Today we went to Ikea. We had lunch and walked around gathering things to buy. We were there for three hours! The Boogie sat in the cart singing and talking loudly and waving hello to everyone. She got lots of smiles back. We picked up some items for the nursery at church and I'm so pleased with how it all turned out. It will be nice to have some new things in there and it didn't cost too much, either!
*yawn* I think it's time for bed and a book.
August 14, 2009
Binkie Elimination: Night Two
The Boogie was happy when she woke up yesterday morning. She never asked for the binkie. She pressed close to me murmuring delightedly, "Honeyhoneyhoney" as she snuggled her head on my shoulder, then popped up again asking, "Wha'yadoin'?" This is our daily routine. It never gets old to me.
She was sweet and obliging as we ran errands in the morning. By the time we got home with a car load of groceries she was winding down. "Honey," she whined, "I tired. I wanna take a nappies." I put her in bed and she cried and called for me for an hour. I went in once to talk to her. I went in a second time to change her diaper and give her some books we just got from the library (new books = distraction, right?) That worked for all of five minutes. I went in again to take away the books and talk to her. She hiccuped through her tears, "Sing a little song?" so I sang to her and stroked her hair and she closed her eyes and was asleep just like that.
At bedtime we were mentally prepared for many more tears. We went through the usual bedtime routine and left. She called for me, without crying, and after a little bit I went back in. "Honey!" she exclaimed, "I hungry."
"No, you're not hungry," I told her. "You just had a snack. It's time to go to sleep." I tucked her in with her burpies and her blankie and a doll and a stuffed monkey and her cup, and left.
She didn't make another sound. Not a peep! She just went to sleep! Thank you, Lord!
She was sweet and obliging as we ran errands in the morning. By the time we got home with a car load of groceries she was winding down. "Honey," she whined, "I tired. I wanna take a nappies." I put her in bed and she cried and called for me for an hour. I went in once to talk to her. I went in a second time to change her diaper and give her some books we just got from the library (new books = distraction, right?) That worked for all of five minutes. I went in again to take away the books and talk to her. She hiccuped through her tears, "Sing a little song?" so I sang to her and stroked her hair and she closed her eyes and was asleep just like that.
At bedtime we were mentally prepared for many more tears. We went through the usual bedtime routine and left. She called for me, without crying, and after a little bit I went back in. "Honey!" she exclaimed, "I hungry."
"No, you're not hungry," I told her. "You just had a snack. It's time to go to sleep." I tucked her in with her burpies and her blankie and a doll and a stuffed monkey and her cup, and left.
She didn't make another sound. Not a peep! She just went to sleep! Thank you, Lord!
August 13, 2009
Binkie Elimination: Night One
See this?
This is a Boogie binkie. In my birth plan before she was born I specified that the hospital nursery was NOT to give her a pacifier. One day after a brief stay in there she came back to my room with this in her mouth. "I know you didn't want her to have a pacifier," the nurse said cheerfully, "so you can just take it away if you still don't want her to have it." As soon as the nurse left I plucked that thing right out of the Boogie's mouth. I didn't want her to have it! If she sucked anything I wanted it to be her thumb -- thumbs never get lost, right?
Then when it was time to go home our sweet newborn who had been so sleepy and content while in the hospital screamed bloody murder when we put her in her car seat. Unable to bear the thought of our brand-new baby crying all the way home, we shoved the binkie in her mouth ... and she fell asleep. Uh-oh. Step one to pacifier addiction.
It turned out that the Boogie hated every car ride ... so I just let her have the binkie in the car. Then at home sometimes she would be so overtired and I just couldn't nurse her anymore right then ... so I let her have it every now and then at home. She had a very strong need to suck and it was either the binkie or me! I figured it would be okay until she figured out how to get her thumb. "Every now and then" got to be more and more often until after a few weeks I gave up and let her have it whenever she wanted.
After a while I realized that the one pacifier from the hospital nursery would only last so long before it wore out or got lost. We tried introducing different styles to the Boogie but she would have none of them. This particular pacifier is only available online so we finally ordered several to have as back-ups. We were pleased to discover that it came in pink as well as orange and blue. That way when the Boogie was dressed in pink from head to toe her binkie could match her outfit!
Eventually (read: many, many months later) we limited binkie time to riding in the car (which she still hated) and bed or nap time. As she got a little older we stopped giving it to her in the car. She learned that when she got up she had to leave the binkie in the crib. Once she figured out how to climb into the crib herself and I realized she was getting in there for a binkie fix, I started putting it somewhere else during the day. All in all she has done fairly with the addiction, gradually weaning herself until she only needed it to fall asleep, and learning other ways to soothe herself when she is upset.
I'm pleased to report that in 28 months we never permanently lost a single binkie. Once on a plane trip to Washington when the Boogie was about nine months old she threw her binkie down the aisle. I peered around but couldn't see it, and wasn't about to go crawling around the airplane floor. I figured I would look for it after we landed and everyone disembarked, but I wasn't going to worry about finding it since I had a couple of replacements. A few minutes later someone tapped me on the shoulder and there was the bink! So even then we didn't lose it. We had so few of them we had to keep close track of them -- it wasn't like we could run to the store to get one if we couldn't find any, since they're only available online. One would go missing from time to time and we would eventually find it buried in a toy bin or behind the crib or tucked up on a shelf. After a while they begin to wear out and have to be thrown away. Now the Boogie is down to two binkies and we are loathe to order any more.
To be perfectly honest, I am totally okay with letting her keep her pacifier. I'm all about keeping the peace, you know? But things worked out and stars aligned, etc. etc., for us to nix it this week before the two she has left completely disintegrate. We started planning a month ago to take it away this week -- I have been dreading it for a month. Every now and then over the past few weeks we have told her, "Binkies are for babies. You're a big girl. Pretty soon you won't need a binky anymore." The other day when I told her binkies were for babies she replied, "No, binkies are for me."
I researched different ways to approach it and discussed it at length with My Man. Should we tie the binkies to some balloons and let them drift away? In my mind I pictured the Boogie FREAKING OUT over that one, so no. Should we take the binkies to the store and "buy" something with them? Again, I could see her being very upset about that. Should we cut the tips off of them so she could still have them, only not be able to suck on them? Once again, I think that would have been very upsetting and also confusing. In the end I simply put them away out of sight yesterday morning and didn't mention them to her all day. She fell asleep in the car at naptime so that took care of that. At bedtime we went through our normal routine and put her to bed without mentioning the binkie. Surprisingly she never did ask for it. She did cry and call for us for a bit which was not as difficult as I thought because she was asking to sit on the couch (something she's been doing a lot lately at bedtime) instead of asking for binkie. After about an hour I decided to give her ten more minutes before getting her and rocking her to sleep, and what do you know, she was asleep about five minutes after that. (Good thing, too, because I probably would have just replaced one sleep problem with another.)
Night one down, hopefully not too many more to go! Whew!
This is a Boogie binkie. In my birth plan before she was born I specified that the hospital nursery was NOT to give her a pacifier. One day after a brief stay in there she came back to my room with this in her mouth. "I know you didn't want her to have a pacifier," the nurse said cheerfully, "so you can just take it away if you still don't want her to have it." As soon as the nurse left I plucked that thing right out of the Boogie's mouth. I didn't want her to have it! If she sucked anything I wanted it to be her thumb -- thumbs never get lost, right?Then when it was time to go home our sweet newborn who had been so sleepy and content while in the hospital screamed bloody murder when we put her in her car seat. Unable to bear the thought of our brand-new baby crying all the way home, we shoved the binkie in her mouth ... and she fell asleep. Uh-oh. Step one to pacifier addiction.
It turned out that the Boogie hated every car ride ... so I just let her have the binkie in the car. Then at home sometimes she would be so overtired and I just couldn't nurse her anymore right then ... so I let her have it every now and then at home. She had a very strong need to suck and it was either the binkie or me! I figured it would be okay until she figured out how to get her thumb. "Every now and then" got to be more and more often until after a few weeks I gave up and let her have it whenever she wanted.
After a while I realized that the one pacifier from the hospital nursery would only last so long before it wore out or got lost. We tried introducing different styles to the Boogie but she would have none of them. This particular pacifier is only available online so we finally ordered several to have as back-ups. We were pleased to discover that it came in pink as well as orange and blue. That way when the Boogie was dressed in pink from head to toe her binkie could match her outfit!
Eventually (read: many, many months later) we limited binkie time to riding in the car (which she still hated) and bed or nap time. As she got a little older we stopped giving it to her in the car. She learned that when she got up she had to leave the binkie in the crib. Once she figured out how to climb into the crib herself and I realized she was getting in there for a binkie fix, I started putting it somewhere else during the day. All in all she has done fairly with the addiction, gradually weaning herself until she only needed it to fall asleep, and learning other ways to soothe herself when she is upset.
I'm pleased to report that in 28 months we never permanently lost a single binkie. Once on a plane trip to Washington when the Boogie was about nine months old she threw her binkie down the aisle. I peered around but couldn't see it, and wasn't about to go crawling around the airplane floor. I figured I would look for it after we landed and everyone disembarked, but I wasn't going to worry about finding it since I had a couple of replacements. A few minutes later someone tapped me on the shoulder and there was the bink! So even then we didn't lose it. We had so few of them we had to keep close track of them -- it wasn't like we could run to the store to get one if we couldn't find any, since they're only available online. One would go missing from time to time and we would eventually find it buried in a toy bin or behind the crib or tucked up on a shelf. After a while they begin to wear out and have to be thrown away. Now the Boogie is down to two binkies and we are loathe to order any more.
To be perfectly honest, I am totally okay with letting her keep her pacifier. I'm all about keeping the peace, you know? But things worked out and stars aligned, etc. etc., for us to nix it this week before the two she has left completely disintegrate. We started planning a month ago to take it away this week -- I have been dreading it for a month. Every now and then over the past few weeks we have told her, "Binkies are for babies. You're a big girl. Pretty soon you won't need a binky anymore." The other day when I told her binkies were for babies she replied, "No, binkies are for me."
I researched different ways to approach it and discussed it at length with My Man. Should we tie the binkies to some balloons and let them drift away? In my mind I pictured the Boogie FREAKING OUT over that one, so no. Should we take the binkies to the store and "buy" something with them? Again, I could see her being very upset about that. Should we cut the tips off of them so she could still have them, only not be able to suck on them? Once again, I think that would have been very upsetting and also confusing. In the end I simply put them away out of sight yesterday morning and didn't mention them to her all day. She fell asleep in the car at naptime so that took care of that. At bedtime we went through our normal routine and put her to bed without mentioning the binkie. Surprisingly she never did ask for it. She did cry and call for us for a bit which was not as difficult as I thought because she was asking to sit on the couch (something she's been doing a lot lately at bedtime) instead of asking for binkie. After about an hour I decided to give her ten more minutes before getting her and rocking her to sleep, and what do you know, she was asleep about five minutes after that. (Good thing, too, because I probably would have just replaced one sleep problem with another.)
Night one down, hopefully not too many more to go! Whew!
August 11, 2009
August 8, 2009
Quiet Saturday
Yesterday while on a walk the Boogie presented me with these:
They are the first flowers she's ever given me (please do not tell me that they are weeds. I don't care if they're weed-flowers.)
Today instead of doing the usually ponytail I played with her hair a little bit. I do have a better picture BUT for some reason it keeps uploading sideways so instead of making you dizzy looking at it you can look at these and imagine how cute it was in reality.
We had an appointment for this afternoon but it got canceled, so we went to Borders to use our BOGO coupon for Seattle's Best Coffee. The barista (is a guy still called a barista? Or is it baristo? Hmm ... Google says barista applies to both. What did we do before Google?) kindly upsized my free 12-oz mocha to 16-oz. It was very tasty. We walked around the childrens section. The Boogie found a little boy and they had a conversation in total gibberish. On our way home we stopped for ice cream. Sadly the ice cream place had discontinued my newly-found favorite: peanut butter soft serve. I made do with mint chocolate/strawberry swirl with chocolate sprinkles but it wasn't as good. Still, mochas and ice cream in the same afternoon is nothing to sniff at.
We spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch watching cooking and baking competitions on Food Network. Around 4:45 the Boogie asked to take a nap; My Man put her in her crib; she cried and cried and cried; thinking it was kind of late for a nap anyway we let her get up; twenty minutes later she looked like this:
Looks terribly uncomfortable, doesn't it? We didn't leave her like that.
Watching Food Network all afternoon made us hungry after a while, so My Man made something we saw on it. It's linguine with sauteed onion and garlic, scrambled eggs, and parmesan.
It tasted pretty good but we thought of several improvements for next time.
The Boogie is now standing by the front door telling us to "come on down." Honestly, I don't know where she gets this stuff! I can promise you that she does not watch "The Price Is Right."
They are the first flowers she's ever given me (please do not tell me that they are weeds. I don't care if they're weed-flowers.)Today instead of doing the usually ponytail I played with her hair a little bit. I do have a better picture BUT for some reason it keeps uploading sideways so instead of making you dizzy looking at it you can look at these and imagine how cute it was in reality.
We had an appointment for this afternoon but it got canceled, so we went to Borders to use our BOGO coupon for Seattle's Best Coffee. The barista (is a guy still called a barista? Or is it baristo? Hmm ... Google says barista applies to both. What did we do before Google?) kindly upsized my free 12-oz mocha to 16-oz. It was very tasty. We walked around the childrens section. The Boogie found a little boy and they had a conversation in total gibberish. On our way home we stopped for ice cream. Sadly the ice cream place had discontinued my newly-found favorite: peanut butter soft serve. I made do with mint chocolate/strawberry swirl with chocolate sprinkles but it wasn't as good. Still, mochas and ice cream in the same afternoon is nothing to sniff at.
We spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch watching cooking and baking competitions on Food Network. Around 4:45 the Boogie asked to take a nap; My Man put her in her crib; she cried and cried and cried; thinking it was kind of late for a nap anyway we let her get up; twenty minutes later she looked like this:
Looks terribly uncomfortable, doesn't it? We didn't leave her like that.Watching Food Network all afternoon made us hungry after a while, so My Man made something we saw on it. It's linguine with sauteed onion and garlic, scrambled eggs, and parmesan.
It tasted pretty good but we thought of several improvements for next time.The Boogie is now standing by the front door telling us to "come on down." Honestly, I don't know where she gets this stuff! I can promise you that she does not watch "The Price Is Right."
August 7, 2009
But Wait, There's More!
Here are some more VBS pics. I took as many as I could before my battery died! I think I still missed one classroom, though.
There are fish in this "pond."
The Boogie was enthralled with them.
My Man and FIL do the VBS skits every year; each time My Man plays some wacky character. He always tries to integrate some kind of slapstick pratfall or running into a door or something like that. Apparently on the first night he fell to the floor and the Boogie freaked out. She cried and cried and refused to be comforted. By the time I arrived from work she had calmed down but her little nose and eyes were all pink and swollen from weeping. Here is My Man dressed up as his character, Brian Freeze.
The Boogie is terrified of him dressed like this. As soon as he walked in last night she began to cry and I had to take her out! It seems to be the glasses that are especially scary.
She is having a difficult time this week. I think going to church (which doesn't look like church with all the decorations) every night and seeing her daddy morph into a stranger has been too much for her. All the way to church last night she kept pleading to take a nap, so I set up a pack'n'play in FIL's office -- then she clung to me and refused to be put down. Thankfully one of the craft ladies distracted her with crayons and paintbrushes and she was better during the rest of the evening.
She seems to be okay at home, though. Cute and silly as ever!
There are fish in this "pond."
The Boogie was enthralled with them.
The Boogie is terrified of him dressed like this. As soon as he walked in last night she began to cry and I had to take her out! It seems to be the glasses that are especially scary.She is having a difficult time this week. I think going to church (which doesn't look like church with all the decorations) every night and seeing her daddy morph into a stranger has been too much for her. All the way to church last night she kept pleading to take a nap, so I set up a pack'n'play in FIL's office -- then she clung to me and refused to be put down. Thankfully one of the craft ladies distracted her with crayons and paintbrushes and she was better during the rest of the evening.
She seems to be okay at home, though. Cute and silly as ever!
August 6, 2009
VBS -- Positively Polar
This week is Vacation Bible School at church. The theme is "Positively Polar" and everyone did a fanatastic job, as always, decorating everywhere! My Man is acting silly in the skits every night and helping me with snacks. In fact, I didn't even have to go after work last night because he had it handled. What an awesome guy.
I went around the other night and took a bunch of pictures. There were a couple of classrooms I couldn't go into because they were in use, so I'll have to get those tonight or tomorrow.
The woolly mammoth that SIL3 made
Nursery area
An igloo made of milk cartons ...
... hot-glued together! It must have taken forever. But it looks pretty cool!
Craft area
More pics to come!
I went around the other night and took a bunch of pictures. There were a couple of classrooms I couldn't go into because they were in use, so I'll have to get those tonight or tomorrow.
The woolly mammoth that SIL3 made
Boys and girls compete in bringing in pennies and the number of pounds they bring in is marked on these whale charts (what, you thought we would COUNT the pennies? ha!)
Nursery area
An igloo made of milk cartons ...
... hot-glued together! It must have taken forever. But it looks pretty cool!
Craft area
More pics to come!
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