Cold Turkey

About 2-3 weeks ago, somewhere between the kitchen and the bathroom, Jeremy lost his pacifier. He's got 4 and there's 1 backup pacifier safely stored away. The other three are probably where the mismatched socks end up. But he goes all day at daycare without one and the day he lost this one he didn't even notice it was gone. Bed time went well. He didn't scream for it like he so often does. We thought maybe he doesn't need it any more.

In all honesty, we haven't tried hard to find the other three but Jeremy's managing without it. Nap time during that first weekend was very hard. Car or stroller rides after extreme exhaustion was the only thing that would work without his beloved pacifier.

During the last 2-3 weeks Jeremy has been quite the jabber mouth. He's been babbling, singing (sorta), and saying a lot more words. Maybe without the plug in his mouth he's free to truly express himself. Although that may mean more screaming and whining. But he's been doing very well. And he gives the best hugs. Although sometimes those big two armed, nose smashing hugs are followed by hair pulling or two handed head slapping. Or if you're Daddy, bites on the cheek that leave teeth marks, ear pulling, nose scratching, or other signs of endearment.

Jeremy's had many growth spurts in the past few weeks. He's walking much better. Climbing up and down the stool to couch and back down again. He's pronouncing "Please" much clearer sometimes. He's expanding his vocabulary. He can say, or attempt to say, up please, diaper, cah (car), bah (ball), puple (purple), mommy, mo' (more), ni-ni (milk), wa-wa (water), and probably a few more that I don't realize he's saying. He's also trying to feed himself. That works fine for scrambled eggs or other things that stay on the fork. But when there's rice on the spoon and he turns it over to eat, apparently it works better with the rounded side up, it can be a bit of a mess.

Cathleya is doing very well herself. Every day she comes home singing the newest song that she learned at school. Her writing is getting better but the way she forms her letters are a little backwards. She'll start the s from the bottom or the g is a glorified s but starting from the bottom. She often mirror's her y's. Luckily she's often interested and eager to do her "homework". She'll make her own 'dot to dots' or 'draw a line to the pictures that are the same.' She loves doing her art projects at school and giving all the teachers flowers from my hibiscus bushes. She is still easily frustrated when things don't go her way or alludes to what she means instead of asks me straight out. Like "I want a girl to help me brush my teeth." So why don't you just say you want Mommy to do it?

Cathleya loves her brother. She'll shoosh us in the car if he's napping and we're talking too loud. She's quick to tattle on him when he's trying to take her toys. She often tries to kiss his head despite all of Jeremy's refusals. He'd stop fussing for a bit to listen to her sing Twinkle Twinkle to him. That's her go-to song for him. They keep growing so fast. Sometimes it's hard to just savor the moment.