Planting of the NUKs

We finally did it! Ella is NUK-free! I had read about "planting pacifiers" in a recent "Parents" magazine article and thought it sounded pretty clever. Joe and I talked about it for days before we actually did it, and when the time came, Ella was more than willing to participate, as you can see below:

On my way home from work the next day, I had to stop at Michael's to buy some flowers to stick in the ground where the NUKs were planted. Ella told me she wanted a black flower to come up. A black flower? I was actually able to find one! Phew! Ella was very excited to see that her NUKs had indeed produced flowers, including a black one.

She asked for her NUKs the first night, and was a bit tearful, but by the second night was only talking about how she had planted them. The dentist recommended that we get rid of the NUKs since she could see that her teeth were being affected by them.

Ella was such a big girl at the dentist! Normally, 2.5 year olds sit on their parent's lap while the dentist checks their teeth. Not Ella! She wanted to lay on the chair. Works for me. The dentist, who specializes in pediatric dentistry, counted Ella's teeth and then applied a fluoride treatment. They don't do a cleaning until around 3.5 years old. The dentist did say that it looked like Ella did bump her front tooth, which is why it is now discolored. It will stay that way until she looses it. Hopefully it will be one of the first teeth she looses. It's not that noticeable to other people I'm sure, but I can really see the difference.

Since we're on the topic of Ella, I'll share a funny story that happened last night. Joe had to work late, so I had to put both kids to bed...a task that I am getting much better at, I might add. I had tucked Ella in and came downstairs to check my e-mail. Joe came home a few minutes later and went upstairs to change. All of a sudden, I hear him call to me, "Al, you have to come see this." Oh boy, never a good sign. As I get to the top of the stairs, I see that Ella's light is turned on. She had gotten out of bed, pulled her chair over to her dresser, climbed onto the chair, grabbed her piggy bank from on top of the dresser, got down onto the floor, proceeded to OPEN the piggy bank, and began to line up all of the coins! This kid would rather play with coins than sleep. Doesn't she realize how great sleep is?

I have the most wonderful news to report...Nathan is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! In case you missed that, Nathan is SLEEPING THOUGHT THE NIGHT!!! Can you tell that I'm thrilled? I am seriously so proud of him. After a rough two weeks of sleep training, we are able to put Nathan into his crib awake, and he falls asleep on his own, with little or no crying. Being able to do that feels amazing. Both kids are in bed by 8:00pm at the latest, which gives Joe and I some time to ourselves now, without having to run up and down the stairs to soothe Nathan back to sleep. With all this extra time, I am able to do wonderful things, such as wash my face or read a few pages of a book. Fantastic!

Last weekend we drove to Michigan to visit my parents. I had this grand plan to drive at night, so the kids would sleep. "Parents" magazine told me to do it. For the most part, it worked. I only had to climb into the back one time to give Nate a bottle. He slept most of the ride. Ella watched "Dora" and slept for a few hours. When we arrived in Northville, it was 1:00am. Both Ella and Nathan were awake at that point. Nathan went back to sleep easily, Joe passed out almost instantly, and Ella was all tucked into her bed. I had a little glass of wine to unwind and was about to go to bed when..."Mommy?" "I's awake." Crap. After several attempts to get Ella to go to sleep, I gave up, and Ella and I pulled an all-nighter. How that child stayed awake late long, I'll never know. She played quietly and I caught up on "People Magazine." I'm very up-to-date on all current events now. Thank you Ella. It was a very short visit, but worth it. On Saturday, many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins came over to visit and to watch the Michigan State basketball game. I was finally able to meet my cousin Dan's little girl, Teagan, who is 3 months old. Such a cutie!

Unfortunately, I have to work this Saturday, so Joe and the kids drove up to his parent's house this afternoon. I will drive up tomorrow after work. I am home ALL ALONE. I don't remember the last time I was completely alone in the house for more than a few hours. It's so quiet. I should be relaxing, but I feel like I have to take advantage of this time and clean, do laundry, empty the dishwasher, etc. At least I had some uninterrupted time to update my blog. The dryer just buzzed. Better go fold the clothes. Happy Easter!