How We Got Rid of the Paci!

Technically, Charlotte was the one to give up her paci, but I say "we" in the title because it was a family affair.  I had two main transition goals at the beginning of the summer: potty training and getting rid of the paci.  I attempted potty training at the end of June and it was a major failure.  After a crazy July of traveling, playdates galore, and a beach vacation I knew we were running out of time. 

About a week after we got back from the beach we started to talk to Charlotte about being a big girl and not using a paci anymore.  On Wednesday Charlotte had her paci in after her nap and Jay told her this was her last day for a paci and that tomorrow she was going to give it to daddy.  Thursday we talked about being a big girl and reminded her she was going to give her paci to daddy.  Sometime on Thursday evening Jay asked Charlotte for her paci and she gave it to him and said, "I a big girl now.  I no need my paci." 


Thursday night she had trouble falling asleep and took about two hours to finally conk out.  She didn't cry or ask for her paci, but she was very restless and had a hard time calming into sleep mode without it, so I laid in bed with her to finally help her go to sleep. 

Friday we went to park in the morning to wear her out, but naptime did not happen.  Apparently she thought she was just giving up her paci for one night and she would get it back at naptime!  She kept crying and asking for it so we just gave up on sleep for that afternoon.  That evening she was so exhausted from no nap she didn't fuss or ask for her paci, but went on to sleep. 

It took her about 3 or 4 days to finally nap without her paci and go to bed without being restless right before she goes to sleep.  Bedtime it has always been harder for her to fall asleep and since I laid with her the first couple of days to help her sleep without her paci, we set up a bad habit that we are now trying to break.  Overall, the giving up of the paci went much smoother than anticipated and we have been paci free for four weeks!


Today she found a paci in one of her purses and brought it over to me.  I was so afraid she was going to pop it in her mouth, but she just looked at me and said, "Is this a paci for my baby doll?"  I told her it was and she carried it around for her baby this evening, but didn't try to put it in her own mouth at all. 

First Day of Pre-K

Trey had his first day of Pre-K today.  He is going to an all day Pre-K at the elementary school where I teach.  The first day was a success! He walked right into his room without any problems and was ready at the end of the day with a big hug and smile for me.

A big adjustment is that he has to get up a little bit earlier than years past so he can eat breakfast at home.  We used to just get the kids dressed and load them in the car because we leave so early, but now he has to eat breakfast before he leaves too.  You can see from the lighting the sun is just starting to come up when we took a picture before leaving on Wednesday. 

Trey loves going to school.  He says his favorite time of the day is nap time, even though he doesn't sleep he just rests.  The school secretary's daughter is also in his class.  We got them together one day last week to play so they would each know someone at school and now she is pretty much all he talks about.  "I got to lay next to Krissy at naptime."  "Krissy played on the slide with me outside." 

He is so big and grown up now!!

Birthday Party

Trey and Charlotte were invited to their first "friend" birthday party over the weekend.  It was held at Glazed Bisque-It, a local paint it yourself pottery store.  They were so excited to pick out a present for Madison and go to the party.

First each child got to pick out a piece of pottery to paint and then they picked out 4 different colored glazes to put on their piece.  Trey chose a whale and Charlotte chose a flower to paint. 

 After painting it was time for cake and ice cream, which I am pretty sure was the kid's favorite part.  

 Everything was so organized and well put together.  The kids all had a great time.  They will bake the pottery pieces and then the kids will receive them later.  Happy Birthday Madison!

August Fun

The beginning of August was originally completely blank on our family calendar.  When we got back from the beach and I flipped to August I must have decided we would die of boredom, because I promptly scheduled back to back playdates or activities for every day.  Note to self: do not do that next August! While we had fun seeing friends every day, it also led to some extreme exhaustion meltdowns at the end of the day.

Charlotte had a little too much fun with the bandaids at home one evening. 

The kids were so excited about their new backpacks!

Trying on fall clothes from a friend

Reading to Dora at the library

Visiting with a friend at lunch

This little guy loves to be outside!

He could climb up everything at the park and was often too fast for me to get a picture!

Checking out the train at the park

Slides are a favorite for everyone.

A park playdate was cancelled due to rain, so all 4 families with young kids came to our house to play and have an indoor picnic.  It was a blast!

Now summer is over for our household and we are back at school.  Trey starts his first day of school tomorrow and we are all excited about getting back into a routine. 

Beach Days

One of my favorite parts about the beach is that everyday in the same space of land/sea it is completely different.  One morning the tide rushes in and invades your sand castle and the next morning the sand castle is crawled on by a local crab. 

Or one minute the sky is clear and waves are calmly crashing, and the next a downpour ensues.  This happened to us on one of our evening walks.  We got to the point where we were about to turn around when the sky opened up and drenched us.  There are no pictures of the 5 minute rainstorm because I was trying to desperately keep my new phone dry!

Earlier in the afternoon Trey did not like how hot the sand felt on his feet when we walked back to the condo from the beach, so he decided to keep socks and shoes on his feet along this sand, just in case.

So sweet

 On our last day at the beach the high tide left behind a sand bar filled with shallow water.  I had been waiting all week for this little pool of water to collect in the sand for the kids to play in. 

The water still had a current to in and Trey liked to watch his shovels "race" in the water to see which floated the farthest away. 

Charlotte preferred to fill up the bucket and dump water all over herself to stay cool.

On the way home we stopped for one more vacation "treat" and then it was back to real life. 

I am pretty sure Trey thinks we will get donuts every time we go on a long trip for vacation!

Aquarium

In the middle of our vacation we met up with some good friends who were also at the beach that week. 

Trey loved all the shark stuff. 

The kids are getting pretty good at taking pictures with my phone.

All four kids.  Their was a lot of energy on that turtle!

Checking out the fish up close.

The both were enthralled with all the large aquariums of fish.

The otters were Trey's favorite animals.

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Charlotte and Dean are best buddies, except with Charlotte is trying to tell Dean what to do.

We had so much fun together at the aquarium and dinner we decided to do it again the next day.  Their family came to our condo and we spent the morning on the beach together.  The kids enjoyed having other little ones to play with.

They brought a boogie board that Charlotte tried out. 

Lunch on balcony.

We had such a great time with them and it wore the kids out.  This is what happened to Charlotte just after they left to go back to their beach home.

See the paci- it is gone now!

Sand, Sun, & Surf

 Charlotte was the ultimate people watcher on the beach.  She would sit in her chair and watch people forever!  At least we know she gets that honestly :)

 Trey spent most of his time on the beach doing this.  He loved to bury his feet!

Snack breaks were always necessities after people watching and digging!

Trey quickly learned it is cooler to play under the umbrella so that is where he liked to be most of the time. 

Charlotte loved sitting in the sand.  We had to strip her down at the outdoor hose to try and get all the sand off her and still we ended up giving her a bath in tub also! 

The last few days she thought it was funny to build a "nest" of sand in her chair and then sit on it! 

Charlotte has on only a towel to walk back to our condo after the hose down outside.  

By the end of the week Trey started to enjoy the water more.  He liked to dig his hands in the wet sand then go wash them off in the waves. 

Both kids liked to jump on the waves as they came to shore.