Binki be gone

The great debate of when to take away the pacifier.

In our house, its called a B for Logan and Charlie. When Dom was little he called it 'mickey' because he could not say binki. Whatever the word may be....the question is always when to kick the habbit.

Some parents choose not to use them. Some kids just do not want them. My boys were obsessive with them. Wanted them 24/7 but Charlie only likes it to fall asleep. Deciding on taking them away is all dependent on the child and their personality...and, well, their attachment to it!

When Dom was little and we wanted to get rid of it, we cut the nipple and in a few days it was gone. He only asked for it a couple times! We were very pleasantly surprised at how easy it was with him. Daycare took it away during the day except at nap time about 6 months before we did. He would walk into his room and put it in his cubby. He knew...no messing with mickey and the teachers ;)  At home, he would have them all over the place and use them as he wanted.  He was old enough to understand that he did not need it anymore. It all went smooth!

For Logan, we had no idea when to take it.  We had planned on taking it around a year old. But the poor kid was sick all the time. Then he had surgery. So we decided to just drop it down to naps/bed/super fussy times and changed the B to a nuk so that his teeth would not be affected. That worked out well for awhile. Then we had his baby sister and the Bnapping began. He would take away hers and run with it. He stole her purple and pink B's that were the same as his original B's. We decided to switch Charlie to the nuks too so that our lives would be easier. Yay for success!!  Don't get me wrong, he still stole them now and again as a game. But he was mostly over the fact that she had a pink B and he had a blue one. 
Then Thursday I forgot his B at home when I dropped him off at daycare. OMG. Terrible things were running through my mind. He had just adjusted to daycare. Liked going. Now this?! I told them if he had a rough time sleeping then I could bring one in, just call to let me know. I waited for the phone to ring. I waited, waited, waited. NO CALL?! Really...he could not have been okay all day without it. Could he? The answer...YES! I decided that we were just taking it away. If he asked, we would tell him he is a big boy and B's are for babies. So I hid them all...out of sight, out of mind! It worked. He only asked for it when he saw his blue bedtime blanket. Then again on Saturday morning. Other than that...no asking. He has stolen Charlie's twice but gave them right back without a fuss. Had I know this would be so darn easy then I would have done it a long time ago.

So how about you? Have any binki stories to share??

A to Z all about Me!

I got this idea from Jill!

I love reading her blog, she has 2 adorable kidlets and has daily adventures of the toddler kind!

A. Age: 32

B. Bed size: Queen. 

 

C. Chore that you hate: Cleaning the bathroom toilet and dishes!

D. Dogs:None

E. Essential start to your day: Caffeine, hugs from my kids

F. Favorite color: Blue

G. Gold or Silver: White Gold

H. Height: 5'4"

I. Instruments you play: None

 

J. Job title: Technical Specialist

 

K. Kids: Dominic 9.5, Logan 23 months and Charlotte 5 months

L. Live: Pa

M. Mother's name: Carol

N. Nicknames: Trace, Nora, Honey

O. Overnight hospital stays: A few times for pregnancy complications, 3 times for deliveries

P. Pet peeve: Nails down a chalk board

 

Q. Quote from a movie: I don't have one...

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: I have 1 brother and 1 sister

T. Time you wake up:6ish

U. Underwear:most days, comfy bikinis or thongs when needed

V. Vegetable you hate: Lima beans, yuck

 

W. What makes you run late: 3 kids

X. X-Rays you've had: head, stomach, chest, arm, knee, foot, neck, teeth.

Y. Yummy food that you make: Mac n cheese

Z. Zoo animal: Penguins

I hope I get to see this continue on...it is a cute idea. Thanks again Jill :)

5 Months

Sweet Charlotte you are 5 months old already. Holy Cow! Time is flying by.

You are around 16 pounds. Still cutting teeth. Enjoying playing in your exersaucer, scooting around the floor, playing with your toys and your brothers.  All the while smiling so big. You are sleeping well, eating well and even starting to grab our food if it is in your reach. You tolerate being on your belly and growl at us like a monster all the time. You are sweet, rolly polly, stinky, lovely and just plain adorable.

We love you stinky!

Weekend of fun

Saturday was a busy, fun family day!  We started out at the Aviary, headed to Toys-R-Us, home for naps and then Gary and I had a date night at a graduation party. Busy, busy is our family. 

The Aviary was eventful. I took lots of pictures. Charlie napped, a lot. We had a mild heart attack when we realized that Logan ran away. Yes, ran away. Gary watched him run into the penguin tunnel and looked up at me so that I would bring him the camera. (I was sitting with Charlie across the room) When I took the camera over, Gary started calling for Logan to come out of the tunnel. No luck, so I headed in to get him. He WASN'T THERE. So Gary and Dominic went looking for the little stinker. He had run through the food court and down the hall to the lockers. He started to run faster once he saw his Daddy and brother coming for him. Oh the joys of having a toddler boy who has no fear.  All in all it was a great time, even with my kid giving us a scare.

The kids could not find anything at the aviary that the wanted so Gary suggested that we head to Toys-R-Us.  Dominic picked out pokemon cards and Logan picked out duplos. The boys were very excited about their new toys and played with them in the car on the way home.

After short naps from the babies, Gary and I headed to a family friends house for a graduation party.  Dominic graduated with his MBA. So very proud of him.  His parents threw a surprise Luau party equipped with hula dancers, Hawaiian band and fire twirling. It was a great time with good friends, yummy food and great entertainment.

Today we round out the weekend with Gary going out with his friends and me crafting. The weekends go too fast!

Filling up

Our weekends seem to fill up really fast! Even faster now with 3 kids :)

October is a busy month. We have a TON of birthdays with our family and friends. Halloween, pumpkins, changing leaves and cake. Oh, lots of cake.

This weekend starts the whirl wind of craziness that is our lives. We have the Aviary and a party this weekend. October 1st is a birthday party for a friend and a celebratory dinner out with family. The following weekend is Hallowboo with my cousins and my Moms birthday.  The weekend of the 15th is Logan's birthday parties...yes parties. Too many people for one go around ;) My kids get spoiled Twice!  Then we are going to Triple B Farms for some apple picking and more fall fun with friends.  The next weekend we are going to the pumpkin patch and celebrate my birthday. And my brothers. Oy! After that, we have the craziness of Halloween. 



This fall is going to fly by. I can feel it. My kids will all of a sudden be bigger. The trees will be naked. I will be cold. Whoa boy.

Blogging...what is that?

I have tried my hardest to be able to do everything. Work full time. Take care of my kids. Laundry, oh the laundry this family creates. Bathroom reno...psh, thought it would be done but....um nope! Take pictures. See family and friends. Blog...wait, I have not really done that lately. BUT I really do think about it every single day. And I read all your blogs. Even if I am not posting...I am ready!

Things are crazy here. I am tired.

So here are some pics of the things that have been going on....

 The bathroom floor finally was installed! And we got new windows too but no picture of that.

 Charlie is wiggling her way around. So cute but please stop growing so quickly.

 Dominic had his first day of 4th grade.

 Charlie started to eat fruits and veggies and have not disliked any :)

 Charlie is learned how to grab her toys and get them in her mouth.

Logan learned that he should do everything by himself and gets very angry when we do not let him.

There is so much more and hope to be able to update again sooner rather than later ;)