More Halloween Fun

Well, actually, it really wasn't that fun-at least not for me-but the babies had a good time. I managed to get lost on the way to the Tollhouse Pumpkin Patch in Reno-surprise, surprise-so, a 30 minute drive turned into an hour long drive. Elliot liked playing with the trucks and climbing on the haystacks, and of course, eating the hay.

Delaney played on a super-big bouncy house with super-big kids (they were probably 5 years old, but twice her height and three times her weight). She got knocked around a bit, and I almost had a stroke-a number of times-but Laney survived and had fun!

Sooooo Big!

Elliot shows off......
his two new front teeth!!!!!!

Pumpkin Patch

The babies and I headed to a local pumpkin patch today with the Carson City MOMS Club. We've been so lucky to find a bunch of mommy-and-baby groups here.
Gramps and Daddy had taken Delaney and Elliot to the same patch a few weeks ago and thought that it was 'small'; I thought that it was perfect! There were about 15 hyper toddlers running around, a very steep hay-slide (which Laney went down by herself about 10 times!), a bunch of pint-sized pumpkins, homemade cookies and warm apple cider.

Luckily for Elliot, the pumpkin patch wasn't very 'stroller-able', so Elliot was free to roam, crawling around everywhere and munching on hay and who-knows-what-else, while I ran after Delaney, going up and down, up and down, and up and down the hay-slide.


Delaney ate a yummy chocolate cookie and drank apple cider from a big girl cup while sitting on picnic bench with all of the other 'big' kids, while Mommy chased after Elliot, pulling him off of haystacks and removing numerous foreign objects from his mouth. This little boy will put anything in his mouth. He reminds me of a little puppy, chewing on cords!

Addiction

Delaney has now made it 36 hours without her binkies. I'm so proud of her-and of us for sticking with it. I did get her binkies out of my dresser today-just to look at them-it felt weird not to see them! An end of an era.

Dave claims that the babies are my addiction---they can drive me absolutely crazy (and I mean certifiably insane) until I swear that I can not take a second more and need a break away from them. But then after an hour or two alone, I desperately miss them, feel somewhat panicky, can't concentrate or enjoy myself and want more than anything, to be with them. I suppose that everyone has an addiction to something or someone.

The Final Plunge

So, it's over, completely over. No more binkies for Delaney. A couple of weeks ago, we confined her binkies to the crib-only for naptime and bedtime, and today, we've taken the final step-no-more-binkies-at-anytime.

Delaney has done pretty well the last few weeks-with a few setbacks. But everytime that she gets upset or has a tantrum, she instantly goes to her room, gets her pjs, and tries to climb into her crib. She needs to learn a new way to soothe herself, and I just don't see that happening until she totally kicks the binky habit. So-I told Delaney that big girls sleep with their dollies and that binkies are for Elliot, and just didn't make a big deal out of it. I feel a bit cruel, and like I have kind of pulled her babyhood out from under her feet.

And I am very sympathetic towards Delaney. It's so hard to give up something that you enjoy. And I do think that binkies are more addictive than crack. The producers of binkies should seriously compensate all children (and mothers!) for therapy.

And I'll keep her binkies forever-they're such a part of her babyhood, and I have so many memories of her carrying the three of them around the house and rubbing the holders on her little sweet face. It's cute-she totally associates the number three with comfort-she'll take three dolls into the car or want three lollipops or three books. She's my crazy baby girl.

Survived The Weekend

The kids and I made it through the weekend while Dave was in Georgia, camping with his brother and friends. I'm a little more tired and bitter than usual, and the house is certainly a bit messier and dirtier than usual (and I thought that wasn't possible!), but all in all, we had a very smooth weekend. The babies played hard during the day and slept well at night.


This morning I went to my bimonthly moms' group meeting. When we pulled up to the church, Delaney started crying and pleading-'no mom, no mom, please, please, sorry, sorry'. It was heartbreaking. And I almost turned around and headed home. But I took a deep breath and got the babies out of the car. Elliot started bawling the second that I handed him off to one of the nursery babysitters. Again, heartbreaking.

I was amazed and surprised (and more than a little thankful) that I wasn't 'called' to the nursery to soothe my children, and had momentary hopes that perhaps they were having fun playing. Nope. When I went to get them after the two hour meeting, Delaney was standing by the door, screaming for me, and Elliot still was sobbing in his caretaker's arms. They had been crying the entire time. Both of them. Once again, heartbreaking.

But, I must admit, that I really enjoyed myself and it was so nice to talk with other moms and be able to have a cup of coffee and relax. So-is a two hour 'break' worth two hours of my babies' unhappiness?-I'm not sure. My gut tells me-'no, no, no-don't put them through that', but then part of me argues-'my God, it's two hours every other week, they'll live'.

Grandma Mary and Gramps Visit

Grandma Mary and Gramps came into town for a long weekend. It was wonderful to have some help, and Dave and I even got to go out together (TWICE!).

After having so much attention, Delaney has been suffering a little bit from grandparent withdrawal since they left on Tuesday morning. She's been demanding. And demanding. And demanding. And maybe I'm going through a bit of an adjustment myself; I get so used to doing everything by myself, and then have help for a few days, and then I'm back to being on my own.


As Delaney has been asking to sit on the potty, I bought her a litte princess potty seat. I thought that the seat would make it easier for her to sit on the potty and encourage practicing. Apparently, I was wrong (again). She has decided that Elliot should sit on the potty and only Elliot. She often wants Elliot to try something that she's a little unsure about--perhaps, she's thinking---'hmmmm.... If Elliot doesn't fall into the potty and die a horrible death, then maybe I'll give it a try'.


Delaney has also been having serious problems kicking the binky-habit. She did fine for over a week, but once Grandma Mary and Gramps left, she must have decided that she needed extra comfort. So-she's been having daily tantrums, begging to go 'nite, nite', so she can have her binkies. It's really quite pathetic. Yesterday, I put her in a well deserved time-out. When I went to check on her, she had pulled down her pants and up her shirt and was frantically trying to put on her pj's, presumably so she could go to bed and have her binkies. It was 2:30 PM. So-it's been a long last few couple of days.....



And about to get longer, since Daddy is headed to Georgia to go camping with the guys. I highly doubt that any blogging, laundry, showering or brushing of teeth will get done in the next few days. Life is fair, huh? :)