A Binky
I am happy to report that we are officially a pacifier free home! I stopped Weston's pacifier use during the day about five months ago and it was surprisingly easy. For our sakes, we let him use it at naps and bedtime. A few times we forgot to give it to him, when we put him down, and he would let us know about it by screaming and screaming until we figured it out! I really wanted to have him weened from it by time Landon came, but knowing it would not be easy, I put it off. A couple of weeks ago he started to chew completely through his pacifiers. Obviously, this was a huge choking hazard! I finally had the umph I needed to follow through on weening him. We started on a Monday night. I kept hoping it wouldn't be as bad as I thought, but it was awful! He screamed at the top of his lungs from 8pm till 1am. I did my best to comfort him, I tried to let him come in bed with us, I tried sleeping on the bed in his room and finally we realized it was best just to let him cry it out. At 12:40 Devon wanted to give in, but I knew if we put it off, it wasn't going to get any easier. We held out and finally at 1am he fell asleep! After that he woke up every two hours, but only cried for about 10 minutes each time. He followed that pattern of sleeping and waking up every two hours for about a week, but then on Christmas Eve, he finally slept all night. Victory!
A Bribe
One of my favorite things about having a child is seeing them grow and figure things out. During West's first year it was neat to see him learn new things physically. It's fun to see him do something for the first time and then tentatively do it again and again until finally it's just natural and normal. As West has conquered much physically, it's been even more fun to see him figure things out mentally. As of late, he's really started to grasp cause and effect. He now knows that if he doesn't stop throwing food, he has to go to his bed for a time out. He understands that he can't play with his blocks until mom is finished cleaning. Best of all, he is now able to be bribed! I know bribing a kid isn't great parenting, but a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do! The other day I had to clip his finger nails. By the way he usually reacts you would think I was chopping off his actual finger! To avoid a meltdown I told him that if he sat nicely while I trimmed, he could have a treat when I was done. Lo and behold, it worked!! He sat virtually wiggle free for the next few minutes and in return he got a tasty chocolate waffler.
A Belly
The other day I was watching Millionaire Matchmaker (don't judge, I can't get enough of that show!). They were interviewing possible candidates to date their millionaire. A fireman, with an incredible physique, was being questioned. They asked him to pull up his shirt, so they could get a look at his sculptured abs. Weston must have overheard their request, because I looked over and he had pulled up his shirt and was proudly flaunting his less then sculpted milk belly. I'm sure that wasn't exactly what they expected to see ;) Guess I really need to be careful what I watch!
