Thursday, March 24, 2011
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
I am not sure if I could document with words everything that my precious girl has learned over the past two months. So, I thought now would be a great time to do a picture blog... Here we go!
FEBRUARY
New Room Decor... Courtesy of my Cricut!
First Valentine's Day!
Learned to climb into the laundry basket... so proud!
A visit from Uncle TJ!
Sweet sleeping girl... this was after quite a battle, ending with a negotiation of napping with her pillow pet... but see, NO pacifier!
Playing with her Valentine's Day card from Gigi Rose (Great Grandma Rose)
Cruising the Couch!
Pulling to Standing!
"Soooo big!"
"Helping" mommy with laundry!
My little sporty girl!
MARCH
"Broccoli? No, thank you!"
A visit from Grandma Lee Lee & Auntie Allee!
Loves her baby, Ruby (named by Grandma Lee Lee)
I understand why this toy was given to us without battaries, but she just loves the "Ch-ch-ch-ch-pow!"
"The perimeter has been breached!"
Reading with Auntie Allee!
Learning to walk!
"For splashing and scrubbing and rub-a-dub dubbing, hands are dandy for toweling and tubbing." (Excerpt from Hooray for Hands!)
"Soooo big!"
We are ready for Spring!
Some new wheels! She cruises all over the place!
Munching on some toast!
Organizing the garage with daddy!
My girl loves to read! She'll sit and babble, I mean, read, for 30 minutes sometimes!
Mackenna's very first pedicure!
Mackenna LOVES Dustin's old "lovey," Ricky the Raccoon!
Taking a snooze on the way home from church!
Spring Tease day! It was 70+ degrees here and we made sure to get out and enjoy the warmth!
Colton & Mackenna loving the swings!
She won't take a sippy cup, so we're trying a straw... she loves it!
Just because it was so cute!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Bye bye, Pacifier!
The pacifier. For some parents, it's a must-have baby item. For others, it's the biggest parenting "no-no." For us, it was somewhere in between. During my pregnancy, we were set on not introducing Mackenna to a pacifier. I didn't register for any and I gave Dustin strict instructions to make sure that the well meaning neonatal nurses did not give one to Mackenna.
And then Mackenna was born. And she was admitted to NICU. And she wasn't really "sick," but she would cry at times (like all babies do) and her nurses had no other choice but to give her a pacifier so that she would be pacified so that they could pay attention to all the tiny babies who really needed their help. One problem, Mackenna didn't like the pacifier. You know, those green soothies that they give to every baby in the hospital. She hated them. But her strong dislike for the pacifier was quickly forgotten when those same nurses dunked the green soothie into sugar water. She loved sugar water. And so, her love for a pacifier began.
After bringing her home from the hospital and, shortly there after, discovering the world of a colicky baby, the pacifier brought us moments of peace amidst the crying and chaos. But we, of course, replaced the awkward green soothie for a more traditional pacifier, the Nuk. We limited her pacifier use to her most fussy time of the day and car rides (for my sanity). Months later, when the colic resolved, we found a more optimal time for pacifier use was for naps and bed time. And since then, her pacifier use was strictly before naps and bed time, and while in the car.
Well, for some reason, for the past two weeks, Mackenna has decided that playing and crawling around is much more fun then sleeping. So she's been fighting her naps. She rebelliously stands up in her crib, rips her pacifier out of her mouth, and throws it on the floor. During her first week of rebellion I would come in her room after 20 (OK, probably more like 5) minutes of crying, pick up her pacifier, stick it in her mouth, lay her back down, and we'd repeat this cycle about three times until she finally cried herself to sleep. One week of that was enough.
Week two's strategy is dramatically different. At nap time, I take her to her room, turn on her noise maker, give her a hug and a kiss, lay her down, walk out, and shut the door. We don't offer the pacifier since she's just been throwing it on the floor anyway. I don't look back after I start walking out and I shut the door. Shutting the door helps me resist the temptation to go back in to rescue her or even to check on her during her naps (which usually wakes her up). And then, I usually find something to keep me occupied. The house is very clean this week and I am almost caught up on all my chores!
"So," you ask, "how is she doing?" She's doing great! Day one was rough. She cried for 45 minutes, but then slept for an hour. Today, day five, she's cried for ten minutes! And bed time has had little to no tears all week! It will be nice to have this behind us. We've heard so many horror stories about getting rid of the pacifier. We are so thankful that Mackenna has made this a bit easier by initiating the pacifier elimination! Now we can focus on the next parenting hurdle... bottle to sippy cup... let's hope it's as easy to clear as eliminating the pacifier has been!
And then Mackenna was born. And she was admitted to NICU. And she wasn't really "sick," but she would cry at times (like all babies do) and her nurses had no other choice but to give her a pacifier so that she would be pacified so that they could pay attention to all the tiny babies who really needed their help. One problem, Mackenna didn't like the pacifier. You know, those green soothies that they give to every baby in the hospital. She hated them. But her strong dislike for the pacifier was quickly forgotten when those same nurses dunked the green soothie into sugar water. She loved sugar water. And so, her love for a pacifier began.
After bringing her home from the hospital and, shortly there after, discovering the world of a colicky baby, the pacifier brought us moments of peace amidst the crying and chaos. But we, of course, replaced the awkward green soothie for a more traditional pacifier, the Nuk. We limited her pacifier use to her most fussy time of the day and car rides (for my sanity). Months later, when the colic resolved, we found a more optimal time for pacifier use was for naps and bed time. And since then, her pacifier use was strictly before naps and bed time, and while in the car.
Well, for some reason, for the past two weeks, Mackenna has decided that playing and crawling around is much more fun then sleeping. So she's been fighting her naps. She rebelliously stands up in her crib, rips her pacifier out of her mouth, and throws it on the floor. During her first week of rebellion I would come in her room after 20 (OK, probably more like 5) minutes of crying, pick up her pacifier, stick it in her mouth, lay her back down, and we'd repeat this cycle about three times until she finally cried herself to sleep. One week of that was enough.
Week two's strategy is dramatically different. At nap time, I take her to her room, turn on her noise maker, give her a hug and a kiss, lay her down, walk out, and shut the door. We don't offer the pacifier since she's just been throwing it on the floor anyway. I don't look back after I start walking out and I shut the door. Shutting the door helps me resist the temptation to go back in to rescue her or even to check on her during her naps (which usually wakes her up). And then, I usually find something to keep me occupied. The house is very clean this week and I am almost caught up on all my chores!
"So," you ask, "how is she doing?" She's doing great! Day one was rough. She cried for 45 minutes, but then slept for an hour. Today, day five, she's cried for ten minutes! And bed time has had little to no tears all week! It will be nice to have this behind us. We've heard so many horror stories about getting rid of the pacifier. We are so thankful that Mackenna has made this a bit easier by initiating the pacifier elimination! Now we can focus on the next parenting hurdle... bottle to sippy cup... let's hope it's as easy to clear as eliminating the pacifier has been!
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