Bye Bye Binky

Posted on June 10, 2007 by admin

We recently took away Lucy’s pacifier for good. We had been whittling it down for a while, only allowing her to have it for sleeping and car rides. But soon after her birthday (has Toby put those pictures up yet?) and our vacation, we had a mini party to cut up the ‘binky’ while Gran was in town. Then Lucy (with Mom’s help) took some scissors and cut up the binkies and threw them in the trash.

She’s happy now, but not for long

Toby made up a song for the occasion. Lucy has been crying alot at naps and bed time. She wants her binky, a lot. We talk about it and she knows that her binky is in the trash, but that is little comfort. Last week, I was putting her to bed and, as usual, she asked for her binky. I went through the whole rigamarole and she told me that her binky was in the trash. Then her face cleared up and she got a sly smile on her face as she said ‘Thumb binky’ and put her thumb in her mouth. Luckily the thumb was not a great subsitute and she only sucked it for a day or so. When we took away the binky, her naps went from typically 3 hours long to about a hour and a half long on a good day. It has been a rough transition for all involved.

Lucy-isms

Posted on June 7, 2007 by admin

By far, the most prevalent one, which is said to me about 600 times a day: “I want a cuddle!” Sometimes this is said excitedly, sometimes whining, sometimes through tears. But all the time. She is such a huggy-bear. She just turned 3 (no, the pictures are not up yet) and she got presents from various loved ones for about 4 days. The day after her birthday she said to her Daddy, “I want more birthday.” Matt said, “Sorry, but it’s all over.” Lucy said firmly, “Daddy, that’s not a good choice.”

A Missing Carlsbad Beach Picture

Posted on May 30, 2007 by admin

I didn’t quite finish the post about our day at the beach. I forgot to mention what Poppa was doing with us at the beach. The following should have appeared before the final sentence about lunch and naps. While Jeff and I read books at the beginning of the morning, Pop was the entertainment for the kids. He got all of them involved in making sand castles that turned out to be sand Village People. Below is a picture of everyone’s hard work.

Village People

Carlsbad Vacation Part 4

Posted on May 15, 2007 by admin

Tuesday, In Toby’s planning, she scheduled Tuesday and Thursday to be ‘stay home’ days. The men took the kids to the beach while the women got attended to at a local day spa.

Talking Heads

Max Head

Lucy Head

Nathan Head

Lucy told me that she wanted to stay buried ‘forever and ever’. Her actual burial time was about an hour. We saw a couple of dolphins and lots of helicopters. We had take out from Fidel’s for lunch and spent the afternoon swimming and reading and napping.

Carlsbad Vacation Part 3

Posted on May 14, 2007 by admin

Monday — Wild Animal Park — It was tough getting out of the condo this morning, and we ended up being 20 minutes late to meet everyone else, but it worked out ok. They had a great Meerkat exhibit and Lucy loved it. The elephant show was fantastic, but I waited about 20 minutes for the food place to cook a hot dog for the kid’s meal I ordered. Ugh. Poppa, Jeff and I had a strenuous uphill walk to get to the elephant show where the gals were waiting for lunch. I had Lucy on my shoulders while balancing a tray full of food, including a large soda with no lid (for the safety of the animals). The hardest part was that having Lucy on my shoulders caused my hat to fall over my eyes and I didn’t have any free hands to push it back up. I ended up just keeping Jeff’s heels in sight and following them.