Bye Bye Noah

I was ready for a rough month of November with Katie. I have been putting off taking her pacifier (her "Noah" as she calls it) for a very long time. Her dentist has been pleading with me to take it away for months, but it was such a sense of security for her that I didn't want to traumatize her. I told myself I would take it by the time she was three. She was very attached to it and asked for it all the time, especially when she was tired.

Well her third birthday was fast approaching and I knew it was time. So the week before Halloween, I told myself that November 1 would start the 30 day countdown to being pacifier free.

Monday, November 1, I said to Katie: "Well, Sweetheart, it's time we get rid of your Noah. So from here on out, we are only going to be using it at nighttime. No more at naptime. You are a BIG GIRL now! You are practically three!! So this is it!" She liked the words "big girl" and she talked about it for a moment or two and moved on.

That night at bedtime, she never asked for her pacifier. In fact she didn't mention it once the whole night. I couldn't believe it. The next morning I told her how proud I was of her and she was very excited by my reaction...and that was it.

She had just stopped cold turkey. No trauma, no melt downs, no pleading. No nights of crying herself to sleep while I covered my ears. It had taken one day. ONE. DAY. I wonder now how long ago I could have taken it. Never again will I underestimate this little girl....until the next time I do.

Because...Actually

What a big girl Katie is becoming. I laugh at how much older she sounds when she speaks now. She tells us often just what a big girl she is too, as she chooses her own clothes and tries to dress herself.

Her Baba and I are constantly exchanging smirks when she announces important things such as : "I love Peter becaaaaause... I love him." or "I want some pasta becaaaaause...actually...I'm hungry." She always draws out the word "because" and I'm pretty sure it's so she can think of the next thing to say. "Actually" is the new word this week and I just love to hear her work it into a sentence.

She's back to wanting to wear her rainboots every place we go, too. Rain or shine. And sometimes she just wants to wear the first two shoes she pulls from the shoe bin. I happily oblige. She is, after all, a big girl.

(Please note, she is walking her "pet" spider home from a friend's house in this photo.)

Pony Tails and Dresses

Thrilled doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about Katie's newfound love of all things girlie.

As you can see she has started wearing barretts, although there's never a guarantee the clip will make it out of the house still attached to her head. It's getting easier though which I'm thankful for. I very optimistically purchased three different colors recently.

Pedicures by mommy cause Katie to squeal with delight and when finished she must show everyone her "pony tails."

Dresses are a must each day. So much so that I had to go out last week and find more to get us through the summer. I think we have enough now to get us through to fall. Whew! And like the perfect big brother, Peter is sure to tell her each day how pretty she looks.

I wish I could videotape every moment. Every day is something new and I hope and pray I will remember it all...

Big Girl Bed

Somehow I thought this was going to be an easier transition. Katie was climbing out of her crib nightly, there was no keeping her in it. Obviously it was time for a bed, right?

Katie appeared excited at first, but soon realized that her crib was gone forever and tried to remove the new bed from her bedroom screaming "I don't WANT a bed!!!"Night one was filled with uncontrollable sobbing every 20 minutes or so. I actually thought there was something medically wrong.

The next morning, after spending most of the night in my bed, I took her to the pediatrician only to find out she was fine. She was just having some trouble transitioning. So off to Target we went to find the perfect blanket that was all her own. Hello Kitty was the blanket of choice. Thankfully she believed me when I told her the Dora blanket was the wrong size.

Fast forward five days later and she seems to actually like her new bed - although she still asks for her crib. The first thing she does when we walk in the door from being outside is run to her bed and just sit on it. It's very sweet. There's still a bit of crying in the night, but this too shall pass...I hope.

Love

I know it won't last forever, and they will have their moments of sibling rivalry, but the closeness between Katie and her big brother Peter is so sweet. I love to listen to the conversations between the two of them while they play two rooms away or watch their interactions.

Last week I listened as Katie told Peter "I love you Peter." and Peter returned the sentiment with "I love you too Katie. I hope you never get hurt." Then yesterday as Peter and I returned from the grocery store, Katie came running up to us shouting "Peter!" as though she hadn't seen him in a week. They hugged and then walked off together to play. Last night I made sure to get the baby books out to record these special moments. Because, as I keep hearing from my friends with older children, it goes so fast.

Mommy! I a Princess!

It's always interesting to see what Katie will grab as we walk out the door each day. Sometimes she has to have a purse, of which she has many. She's so fancy that sometimes she carries two.

It's even more interesting to see what she will decide to place inside. Will it be Star Wars action figures? Plastic spaghetti? My Little Pony? I love to peek inside. It warms my heart to see what she chose, since she takes such a long time to carefully select the contents.

Lately she has been very happy to wear dresses. She gets so excited once she is fully dressed, holds out the hem of her dress and says "Mommy! I a princess!" I can pretty much get her to wear anything, as long as I say the word princess when I describe it. I wonder how long that will last...

Mother's Day

I got to sleep in this morning for Mother's Day.

Well, sort of.

Every few minutes the bedroom door would swing open and hit the wall and either Peter or Katie would come running in and yell "Mommy! Mommy!" and crawl onto the bed.

Peter would tell me some random fact about whatever Star Wars action figure he was holding and then run back out. Katie would pretend she wanted to snuggle and go back to sleep. And just when I closed my eyes and drifted back into dreamland, she would say in her teeny voice "tickle tickle!" One time she started singing a lullaby. Only, she doesn't know that a lullaby should be sung sweetly and quietly. She yelled it.

I am really going to miss these days as they continue to get older and more independent, so I don't mind the constant interruptions to my restful sleep.

I love this picture of Katie in her peach sweatshirt from our wonderful friend Kristine. She looks about five there to me. I still think of her like this:

Our Little Climber

These days I have to wear my running shoes when going to the park with the little ones. Katie is all about climbing, and she is fast! One moment she is right beside me and the next she could be forty feet away, climbing one of the many ladders on the play structure.

She is a pretty good climber, I must admit, (thanks Gerry) though there are those few times when a foot slips and my heart almost stops.

Thankfully Peter is at an age where he gets it that he has to stick close by, just in case we have to go after Katie. He never complains. He knows she's a handful.

I love the time at the park where she just wants to be pushed in the swing. A little break for mommy. Here, our good friend, Finn, is pushing Peter and Katie. He's such a sweet boy.

Playing with My Big Brother

I am so in love with these two little ones. They are having so much fun together. They're actually talking to one another, sharing toys (most of the time) and constantly trying to see who can make the other laugh more.

Today I walked into the living room to find them playing "Ring Around the Rosies", collapsing into fits of laughter at the end of each revolution. In this photo Peter is giving Katie a horsey-back ride. What a great big brother he is.

The weekend was full of moments like that. Once I heard Peter ask Katie if she was okay. Another time, after Katie made Peter cry when she knocked over his building, she went over and rubbed his back and said she was sorry. It just melted my heart.

These moments may not last forever, so I'm going to cherish them now as much as I can...

Trouble

You would never guess, by looking at Katie, that there is so much mischief lurking behind those hazel eyes. She has enough energy for four toddlers and is constantly thinking up new ways to surprise me.

Just when I think she is quietly playing and I can get some housework done, I walk in to find her in the bathroom filling up her teacups with water from the toilet. Or I catch her pouring water from the sink into a drawer. Never a dull moment with this one.

As you can see, she is actually wearing pigtails. They lasted an entire five minutes. A record.

Friends Forever

As much as I get annoyed that Peter and Katie stay up so late laughing, I have to admit that I love how they manage to have so much fun together.

Since our home is a tiny 2/1, sharing a bedroom is mandatory. For the first year of Katie's life, I was so eager to add on another bedroom. Now I realize how sad those two would be to be separated. Tonight as they were playing before bed, I actually heard Peter say "Katie, I love you."

I still want to add on, but only so we can have a little extra storage for all of those darn toys I keep stepping on!

GOODNIGHT Katie!!!!

As I type this, Katie is full of energy, dancing around the room, singing the tune to Batman. When we placed her in her crib tonight, she cried and cried. Not her usual mad cry, but that cry where you know something's up. Ear infection? Plain stubborness? We'll soon find out when we put her back to bed.

For now, we are enjoying her silliness that we know won't last forever. She is making goofy faces to make us laugh and running around with her mittens on, playing peek-a-boo. I think she loves these moments when she is the center of attention, and she has us all to herself. Don't get me wrong, she loves her big brother, but right now she is the queen of comedy and she is loving the spotlight

Off to try bed again. Maybe she just wanted a few extra moments. Hoping that is all.