Here are some fun tidbits about Maci from December - February:
Every morning when she is ready to get up she hands me everything in her crib (blanket, Nemo, Sock Monkey, and Coco) and then I lift her out and she puts everything back in.
On December 29th she climbed out of her bed all by herself for the first time (and didn't get hurt). She was supposed to be napping but she thought she didn't need one that day. The third time I went into her room to encourage her to go to sleep, she met me at the door. All I can say is that we are lucky she hasn't figured it out sooner.
Every morning for breakfast, about 90% of the time, she wants/eats Life cereal for breakfast. Usually, right after she gets out of bed, she says to me, "How bout Life?" The other 10% of the time is oatmeal. If we are lucky, she will eat pancakes occasionally but only if they have jelly on them.
Maci has learned that if she asks the question that she wants to be asked herself, she will get it. For example, this morning after she ate her oatmeal, she says, "Do you want some yogurt, honey?" So I asked her that and she says, "yes, okay, okay." Makes me laugh every time.
Maci loves to sing in bed. Usually during the beginning of nap time, I will find her singing her ABC's, Where is Thumbkin, Happy Birthday, Deck the Halls or Jingle Bells or whatever she feels like singing about.
Maci finally understands she can love things. Getting her up from a nap sometime last month, she points to the picture of Jesus in her room and says, "I love Jesus." From then on, about every day she loves something new, Coco, Life (her cereal), bacon, Minnie, her blanket, stickers, and so on.
The other day I made cookies during her nap. I gave her one when she first got up and she scarfed it down. She asked for another and I gave her one from a more "crispier" batch. She bit into it, started to crunch on it and she looked at me and said "yucky" and gave it back to me. LOL! Guess she is more of a soft cookie girl.
We have recently started reading the Book of Mormon reader that has a gazillion pictures to go along with the story. After about a week, Maci has decided she wants to choose which story we read. She chooses the first story, about Joseph Smith and how the Book of Mormon came about. Now, it is her favorite and asks for it every night. She knows the story practically by heart. It is just so cute!!!
We've noticed in the last few months that either Maci has a fantastic memory or she is able to communicate so much more. She now sings most words to songs and is actually repeating parts of her favorite shows. On Netflix, there is a show called "Wheels on the Bus" which by far is her absolute favorite. I was at the computer and put her show on and she practically repeated the entire episode. Totally blew me away and it was F-U-N-N-Y!
Maci loves to help me prepare dinner every night. If I don't ask her to help, she is right there asking to sit on the counter and help. She has even learned to bring a chair over from the table and sometimes plays in the sink with the water.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Goodbye Binky!!!
Finally, the deed is DONE! 13 days have passed since it "disappeared" and I think we are finally getting some sleep at night. I should have kept a daily journal of the "night activity" so we could share with you but by the 3rd night, I couldn't remember much of what happened during the night. So here is my best recollection of the blessed event.
Maci was getting pretty attached to her binky. It was almost a real person to her. She only used it during naps and night time and had been that way for many months. But recently she would cry for it during the day when she was put in time out or wouldn't get her way or told no. So David and I knew the time was upon us. So I did some research online and we decided to have her go cold turkey with it. So I ordered a book from Amazon called Goodbye Binky and decided to start reading it to her 5 days in advance of when we'd take it away. So Sunday, January 20th, after our scripture reading, we added the book to our nightly schedule. She loved the book. Here is a short summary.
It is about a 2 year old boy who loves his binky and goes with him everywhere. One day at the park while swinging, the binky pops out of his mouth and falls to the ground. A girl his age picks it up and tells him that she didn't need one anymore because she was a big girl and that the binky fairy came to visit. So the boy thought of that as he went to sleep, wanting to be a big boy. The next day Bubbles, the binky fairy visits with a red box saying how brave he would be if he gave up the binky. He did that night, tossing and turning but eventually falling asleep. The next morning he awoke happy to see he slept through the night and found a Big Boy award from Bubbles and of course, binky was gone. The next time he went to the park he noticed someone else had a binky like his and wondered if they fairy gave it to him.
So we read it Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night to Maci. On Wednesday night, David switched her name for the boy which made it personal to Maci. I thought I would try no binky during nap time. The next two hours were bad for both of us. I would go in and try to comfort her every 30 minutes but there was a lot of heartache. That night we also cut the tip of her binky off . When we gave it to her, she sucked, pulled it out of her mouth and said "yucky." David and I snickered and put her to bed. Well, about 20 minutes of fussing, she finally asked for some water. I brought it in and what did she do? She dipped her binky in it and put it in her mouth. She laid down and went to sleep. The water caused the sucking comfort that she needed. Talk about a smart little girl! She woke up once during the night and asked for water again for the binky. So the next day, I didn't let her have her binky for her nap again. To my surprise, she actually fell asleep! This gave me hope for this evening. Later she found the red box I had made (with a picture of Bubbles, the fairy on it) and said her binky was in it (good she already knew what was in store). We then took the box to our bedroom and read the story and she was eager to put her binky in. Going to sleep was rough but she finally fell asleep then waking up 3 times during the night. Okay, the night was better than we hoped. In the morning, she found toys, bubbles and a Big Girl award in her box instead of binky. She was sad but loved her presents. No nap the next day and with a little encouraging of not needing binky and being a big girl, she fell asleep. She woke up 4 or 5 times. Saturday night she would wake up each time screaming and couldn't be consoled for 10-15 minutes. Sunday night she fell asleep at 9 and woke up each hour until 2, then up at 8am. (we couldn't tell by now if this was getting worse or better) Monday night she woke up 3 times but we shut all doors and let her soothe herself to sleep. Finally by the end of the week, we were mostly rested and Maci was getting used to the nights. She still woke up, sometimes screaming, some just whimpering. Now, 13 days later, she still haven't slept thru the night like she had before, but she now comforts herself and is able to fall back asleep on her own. The binky is only mentioned when she brags about the binky fairy coming. For example, we were at the story and passed a 9 mo old boy with a binky and she told him her story of the binky fairy coming and bringing her presents. It was cute
The plus side of it you ask??? Well, finally, we see a plus side; we weren't sure we were ever going to get there. Macs now cuddles more. She has never been one to cuddle but now she asks to be rocked to sleep or sit on your lap to watch a movie. She voluntarily comes up to you and gives hugs and kisses for no reason at all (precious are these moments). She altogether seems to have grown up a bit too. She is more helpful around the house and plays better with her friends and cousins.
We are so glad this is past us. David says this next little on isn't getting a binky but I say otherwise. We will just take it away at about 12 months old or sooner. That is of course if he/she will even take to one. We know that binky's are lifesavers but taking them away from an attached toddler was HARD. We know we didn't do it alone. Heavenly help was on our side. It is amazing what prayer, trust and persistent can do.
"Bubbles" the Binky Fairy's Box
Maci was getting pretty attached to her binky. It was almost a real person to her. She only used it during naps and night time and had been that way for many months. But recently she would cry for it during the day when she was put in time out or wouldn't get her way or told no. So David and I knew the time was upon us. So I did some research online and we decided to have her go cold turkey with it. So I ordered a book from Amazon called Goodbye Binky and decided to start reading it to her 5 days in advance of when we'd take it away. So Sunday, January 20th, after our scripture reading, we added the book to our nightly schedule. She loved the book. Here is a short summary.
It is about a 2 year old boy who loves his binky and goes with him everywhere. One day at the park while swinging, the binky pops out of his mouth and falls to the ground. A girl his age picks it up and tells him that she didn't need one anymore because she was a big girl and that the binky fairy came to visit. So the boy thought of that as he went to sleep, wanting to be a big boy. The next day Bubbles, the binky fairy visits with a red box saying how brave he would be if he gave up the binky. He did that night, tossing and turning but eventually falling asleep. The next morning he awoke happy to see he slept through the night and found a Big Boy award from Bubbles and of course, binky was gone. The next time he went to the park he noticed someone else had a binky like his and wondered if they fairy gave it to him.
So we read it Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night to Maci. On Wednesday night, David switched her name for the boy which made it personal to Maci. I thought I would try no binky during nap time. The next two hours were bad for both of us. I would go in and try to comfort her every 30 minutes but there was a lot of heartache. That night we also cut the tip of her binky off . When we gave it to her, she sucked, pulled it out of her mouth and said "yucky." David and I snickered and put her to bed. Well, about 20 minutes of fussing, she finally asked for some water. I brought it in and what did she do? She dipped her binky in it and put it in her mouth. She laid down and went to sleep. The water caused the sucking comfort that she needed. Talk about a smart little girl! She woke up once during the night and asked for water again for the binky. So the next day, I didn't let her have her binky for her nap again. To my surprise, she actually fell asleep! This gave me hope for this evening. Later she found the red box I had made (with a picture of Bubbles, the fairy on it) and said her binky was in it (good she already knew what was in store). We then took the box to our bedroom and read the story and she was eager to put her binky in. Going to sleep was rough but she finally fell asleep then waking up 3 times during the night. Okay, the night was better than we hoped. In the morning, she found toys, bubbles and a Big Girl award in her box instead of binky. She was sad but loved her presents. No nap the next day and with a little encouraging of not needing binky and being a big girl, she fell asleep. She woke up 4 or 5 times. Saturday night she would wake up each time screaming and couldn't be consoled for 10-15 minutes. Sunday night she fell asleep at 9 and woke up each hour until 2, then up at 8am. (we couldn't tell by now if this was getting worse or better) Monday night she woke up 3 times but we shut all doors and let her soothe herself to sleep. Finally by the end of the week, we were mostly rested and Maci was getting used to the nights. She still woke up, sometimes screaming, some just whimpering. Now, 13 days later, she still haven't slept thru the night like she had before, but she now comforts herself and is able to fall back asleep on her own. The binky is only mentioned when she brags about the binky fairy coming. For example, we were at the story and passed a 9 mo old boy with a binky and she told him her story of the binky fairy coming and bringing her presents. It was cute
The plus side of it you ask??? Well, finally, we see a plus side; we weren't sure we were ever going to get there. Macs now cuddles more. She has never been one to cuddle but now she asks to be rocked to sleep or sit on your lap to watch a movie. She voluntarily comes up to you and gives hugs and kisses for no reason at all (precious are these moments). She altogether seems to have grown up a bit too. She is more helpful around the house and plays better with her friends and cousins.
We are so glad this is past us. David says this next little on isn't getting a binky but I say otherwise. We will just take it away at about 12 months old or sooner. That is of course if he/she will even take to one. We know that binky's are lifesavers but taking them away from an attached toddler was HARD. We know we didn't do it alone. Heavenly help was on our side. It is amazing what prayer, trust and persistent can do.
"Bubbles" the Binky Fairy's Box
Saturday, February 16, 2013
First real prayer
Tonight was a heart warming parental moment for us. For family prayer we take turns and when it is Maci's turn to pray, David and I switch off helping her. She is really good at repeating whatever we have her say. Probably about two weeks ago, we encouraged her to start on her own and to our surprise she said "Heavenly Father, thank you for this day." That is as much as she would say. We were ecstatic she got even that far! Well tonight, we encouraged her again to start and much to our surprise she kept going and going. It went like this:
"Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, thank you for Ryan, thank you for Aaren, thank you for Krystin, thank you for Boden, thank you for toys, thank you for our home, thank you for Book of Mormon, thank you for Blaine, thank you for Elzie, thank you for Zoey, please bless work."
She then was quiet and we helped fill in with gratitude for family, temple, prophets, good health for her baby brother and then she ended it on her own. Wow! We had just spent the evening with the first 4 people and the others she named were kids from the nursery and we normally ask for David to be safe while he is at work during the day. I will admit that I was beaming during her whole prayer and it brought tears to my eyes. She understands and articulates so well at such a young age. It is so fulfilling already to see her think for herself and learn about the gospel and to express it! Such a tender mercy from Heavenly Father!
"Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, thank you for Ryan, thank you for Aaren, thank you for Krystin, thank you for Boden, thank you for toys, thank you for our home, thank you for Book of Mormon, thank you for Blaine, thank you for Elzie, thank you for Zoey, please bless work."
She then was quiet and we helped fill in with gratitude for family, temple, prophets, good health for her baby brother and then she ended it on her own. Wow! We had just spent the evening with the first 4 people and the others she named were kids from the nursery and we normally ask for David to be safe while he is at work during the day. I will admit that I was beaming during her whole prayer and it brought tears to my eyes. She understands and articulates so well at such a young age. It is so fulfilling already to see her think for herself and learn about the gospel and to express it! Such a tender mercy from Heavenly Father!
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