Pulling the Plug, 2

Nap - Nov. 1st
Both girls talked about 30 minutes and then Ava fell asleep. It took Cate an additional 15 and they slept about an hour.

Night - Nov 1st
Last night went pretty well, the girls went down fussing, but went to sleep within about 15 minutes.

Nap - Nov 2nd
The pain has begun. As I type Ava is hysterically crying and Cate just stopped crying, but is talking a lot. Neither one wanted to get in their cribs and they both asked about the paci. Ava kept saying "broken, trash, all gone". And Cate "fix it". I knew it was a little too good to be true, so I am not the least bit surprised by this, but it is no fun. I hope they get at least a little nap in or we are going to have a long evening! My parents are keeping the girls tonight so we can go to Community Group. I feel guilty leaving them to deal with this mess, but we can't give in now. We are too far in to it!

Edited: Ok, it took Ava about 20 minutes and she got quiet. Cate is now singing, which is common. Hopefully she will at least rest. It is the best sleeping weather - cold and rainy!

Pulling the Plug

We literally pulled the plug. Since the girls turned 2 on the 23rd we thought it was finally time to completely get rid of the pacifier. Ava refers to it as "Patsy" and Cate "Boppy". When they turned one we cut it back to cribs only, nowhere else, no exception. Not even the car! For the past year I have dreaded taking it away during sleep because they have been so obsessed with them. They ask for them when they get tired and have to take a couple of last sucks each morning before they will get out of their cribs. They LOVED them. I wanted to jot down how the transition is going because I have been so bad at keeping records for their baby books etc.

Night 1: Friday, October 29th
Cut the tip off the paci. When they got in their cribs they both said "broken". We said oh no, it's broken. Then asked if they wanted to throw them in the trash. They said yes, trash. So we took them and walked to the door and they lost it (especially Cate). We told them they could either throw them away or hold them. Ava decided to hold hers, but Cate was torn and kept going back and forth while crying. She ultimately decided to hold hers too. We left and they didn't cry. Ava went to sleep, but Cate talked and sang for 2 hours. From 7:20 to 9:20. (This isn't unusual for her. She does this quite often any way.) Erick went in at 9:20 and told her night night and she went to sleep. They slept through the night.

Nap 1: Saturday, October 30th
They got in their cribs and tried the paci again and said broken. Same discussion from night one occurred and we left their room. Cate talked nearly her whole nap and cried for me to get her a book. I don't think she really slept at all. Ava went right down and slept about an hour.

Night 2: Saturday, October 30th
They still chose to hold them, so we let them keep them in their cribs. They both went down relatively easy and slept all night.

Nap 2: Sunday, October 31st
Put them down and they both talked through their entire nap. I don't think either fell asleep, but we kept them in their cribs about 1.5 hours so we did still get a naptime break, just not a completely quiet one. When I went to get them, they both told me their paci's were broken and I asked if they wanted to throw them in the trash again and they said "yes". I took them both downstairs and they threw them in the kitchen trash and walked in to the living room and did not think about it again.

Night 3: Sunday, October 31st
Put them in the crib with no paci in sight. They both asked for them and we told them they were broken and they threw them in the trash and they were all gone. They were both a little distraught and asked for other stuffed animals we let them each have one and left the room. Ava cried for me for about a minute and then it was all quiet. They went right to sleep. It has been about an hour and they are still asleep, so I hope they make it through the night.

All in all, so far so good, and I hope it continues. I am aware they can regress so I am not holding my breath, just hopeful!!!!

Free at Last!

After 8 weeks and 4 days, Ava is out of a cast!!!! We went today and the bones look good, so no more cast. She is supposed to take it easy for the next two weeks (no playgrounds, bounce houses, etc.). I told the Dr. "You mean she wasn't supposed to be doing these things with the cast?" She told me no, but Ava has not slowed down one bit and I confessed I was a bad mom and let her go wild as usual. Oh well, it healed anyway. She had her first bath tonight without having to hold it out of the tub with plastic wrap and she was in heaven. She got so mad when she had to get out and laid on the bottom of the empty wet tub and threw a little tantrum.

First Day of School

The girls started preschool on Tuesday. A much needed break for me. They go from 9-12 on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I can get some cleaning and errands done ALONE!!! They did really well, no tears that I know of, but I also dropped and ran w/o saying goodbye. Not sure if that is the wrong way to do it, but it works for me. They used to be in daycare, they go to the church nursery, and have each other, so I don't think they minded much.

I was so excited I got a couple of pictures of them. They do not like to cooperate these days and are hit or miss on letting me do their hair. You will notice they have their princess flip flops on. They are obsessed with these shoes (thanks Carrie)! They did not actually wear these, but they always have to put these on until we get in the car. They then take them right off and when we get to our destination I put on the shoes I want them to wear. I love these, but they are a little big and they don't walk very well in them for every day wear. Anyway, the pictures (out of order)!

The girls really wanting to take their pigtails out. My girls seriously have bangs in their eyes 99% of the time, and they refuse to wear bows. :(
Cate in the car (still in the garage) saying "No Picture!" Notice the shoes are already off.

Ava saying "Cheese!" Shoes also off. About 5 seconds later Ava had both her pigtails out. Drives me nuts!!!

A little nervous. Ava twirling her hair and Cate biting her nails.

"Here we go!"

Sweet girls! Love them!

Ava still in the cast. Hopefully it will come off on Monday.

Halloween Costumes

I saw these costumes and thought they were perfect "coordinating" costumes for the girls. I can't wait for Halloween so they can wear them.

Pics of the Cast

The girls hiding from mommy! Ava in the pretty purple cast she got today. And, my sweet Cate. A better view of the cast.

Her temporary cast and "purse". I kept calling the sling a purse so she would wear it. She LOVES purses.

The morning after it happened (about 12 hours later). It did not phase her one bit.

Cate also got a sling so she would not feel left out. The whole ordeal was kind of tramatic for her. She is such a sweetheart.

So that's how she broke it?????

Ok, I was looking at pictures on my camera from the last month or so and it shocks me that Ava broke her arm falling off my bed while I was right there. Here are some pictures of the "normal" stuff she does on a daily basis. I don't have a picture of her breaking through the gate at the bottom of our stairs and getting 3/4 the way up before I caught her, but she does that too. And the broken arm hasn't stopped her. She is also escaping from her car seat while I drive no matter how tight it is. She is a mess!!

It could have happened when she escaped from her from her high chair.Or when she strolled her baby on the couch.Or while riding her horse!Maybe even balancing on her toy bin.

Or even while she was trying to make our bed! Could have been trying to climb up our TV stand to get something I took away from her. (Excuse the bare behind) Or when she jumped on Cate. Cate pushed her off right after I took this.

Could have been when she pushed her stroller in my heels with her shirt around her knees. That is a new favorite of theirs (getting undressed). No, it had to be when she was on my back. I feel like the worst mom in the world!!!