When to abandond ones principals??? (rant no2)

So, my dbg is just that, a little darling!, she's filled with energy and uses it up quickly, that means she gets very tired very soon and has no energy to eat or sit down for a story once she's hit bottom.

A few weeks ago we weened her off the pacifier (we call it dummy, so for future reference, dummy=pacifier) it went ok, it took her about a week to settle for her night time sleep without it and now she sleeps like a dream (most of the time) without it, the day naps never settled, she will scream and scream and scream so in the end I told my hubby that we'll have to give it to her, I nor her can take this any longer.

So now she'll fall asleep but wake up as soon as the dummy falls out of her mouth, I try to get her to suck her thumb but she likes to pat things and forgets to suck the thumb, though she still gets upset when it comes out and forgets that it was her thumb and she can easily put it back in again, she also is still struggling to get the dummy in properly, sometimes it works but most times it doesn't so I go in to her room over and over again, her sleep is interrupted and it turns out it's not a good enough nap.

Now she's also a bit wingy and the dummy helps calm her down, we have tried to hold it off, but her sad face just makes my insides shrink and I think, am I taking the dummy away for my sake or hers? It obviously bothers me to hear her whine and whinge, and part of me hopes that one day she'll start looking for it herself and I let her whine for while, though since she almost never finds it and puts it in her mouth herself I end up after having had her cry/whine/whinge for a while go over and do it for her....
I am worried that this bad habit is never ending, so this was me abandoning my principles, but I'm not sure to what good or bad

(my hubby reads this and looks at me, what happened to you? he says. I used to do this, as a nanny these things are so easy to deal with, no nonsense and it all works out great, maybe I should take a step back, stop letting cries bother me, enjoy the time we have while she's little and stop worrying?)

Cheap Thrills: Part two

Mama J and M are back for the second installment of Cheap Thrills (the first can be found here.) I spend a fortune on toys and craft supplies - things I think she will love - but she always ends up coming back to something that we have around the house, or isn't a toy at all. Here are the latest cheap ways in which M entertains herself!

1. Snaps, buttons, clips and any other fasteners. M is obsessed with clipping and unclippling or buttoning and unbuttoning the fasteners on anything and everything. Her carseat, the stroller, the booster seat we just bought her, the dogs collar, the dogs leash, all of her jackets, her pants - just sit her by it, or in it and she could spend hours just working with the fasteners. Her new favorite thing to do is strap her giant Elmo or Minnie Mouse doll into a car seat or booster seat and show off her handy work. Thankfully she can't do the main buckle on her car seat, but the chest strap is baby school. There's no tying down my kid!

2. Mama's purses and wallets. I apparently have amassed a large collection of wallets and purses over the last 10 years, including some awesome old Dooney and Bourke shoulder bags, countless Coach wristlets in the oddest colors and a numerous Louis Vuitton fakes that I bought on Canal street (I think they say Larry Vitton on the label :). Thankfully I didn't throw them out, for fear that they will come back in style, because now Marlo loves to walk around the house with purses on her arm. She will sit there and zip and unzip them, and move them from arm to arm and say "look Mommy! Fancy!" I have put a few old cards in the wallets and she will sit there all by herself and take out a card and hold it up to something and say "Swipe!" I wonder where she learned that...

3. Felt shapes and silk flowers. I purchased two packages of felt shapes and silk flowers for craft projects a few months back. Well, she showed no interest in sticking them on sticky paper, but she did show an interest in dumping them all on the ground! So that is what we do now - I have a bin filled with all these little shapes and flowers and we dump them out on the floor. I will then ask her to find certain shapes, or name shapes I hold up, as well as asking her colors of flowers...I am amazed how quickly she picked up every shape and color we have in there. It is a great learning tool for toddlers!

4. Find that ornament. We put up our tree and decorated the house on Thanksgiving. I will  be writing a whole other post about it, but now that M is old enough to somewhat understand what is going on, it is an even more magical time of year. We now like to play the "find that ornament" game every day. Our tree has photos in little frame ornaments, as well as her favorite Disney characters all over it so she is totally into it when we play. It is also another great way to learn shapes and colors by having her "find the red ball" for example.

Babies and Books

While I am home for the summer, I try to bring Baby C to new places and expose her to new experiences as often as I can. Last week Baby C and I discovered Babies and Books story time at the Westwood Public Library. Every Friday, the library holds a story time from 10:30-10:50 for children ages two and under. Story time takes place in a quiet, child-proofed room which is separate from the rest of the children's area. Babies and their caregivers sit on cushy mats, or at least attempt to sit on cushy mats, while the very kind, patient librarian engages the babies with songs, stories, and puppets.

Story time has not changed much since I was a wee one thirty-ish years ago. The librarian began story time with a "Hello Neighbor" song. Then, she showed babies different colors on a snazzy felt board, danced and sang the Hokey Pokey, performed an Oscar-worthy puppet performance of Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, and brought down the house with a short picture book geared especially for a very young audience. The babies and toddlers LOVED story time. They were able to dance, sing, wiggle, and wave to other babies. The librarian kept the children entertained and somewhat focused. I was amazed by how well the babies listened and how much they enjoyed story time. At one point, Baby C looked up at me with a huge smile and said something like, "Gaba ma ma goo," which I think translates to, "Mama, thank you so much for bringing me to this totally amazing place! You are the best Mama EVER!" or something like that.

If you are looking for something quick and easy to do with Baby, Babies and Books is a great activity! If you do not live nearby the Westwood Library, check out your public library's web page. Lots of communities offer wonderful activities for little ones at the public library. It's old fashioned, free, and fun. If you do stop by Babies and Books, Baby C and I will save you a seat in the front row.

Cheap Trick

By guest blogger Mama Joy


In our bag of tricks to entertain our lil ones we all have purchased $$$$ items to $ items.  I have bought both but I am here to tell you about a low budget one. ALPHABET FLASH CARDS!

Now I do not have a prodigy child, yet, but she loves these flash cards! She has always taken to staring at a sign above her changing table that reads “Sweet Pea”, although for the location of where it hangs I consider it to read Sweet Pee.  One day I decided to take it down and show her. As I read over each letter she squealed with delight.  

The next time I visited Wal Mart (sorry I do shop there) I picked up a deck of alphabet flash cards. On one side there is the letter and on the other side there is a picture of an item representing the letter.  For example A = Apple.  After I change her stinky diaper I take out a few cards and review them with her. She will track the letter as I move it around and gets very excited as I repeat the letter over and over to her.  The picture gives her more visual stimulation that she loves to track as well. The cards are good for fine motor skills, as she has developed a knack for grabbing them She eventually throws them once she realizes that she actually has something in her hands.  

We have got language development, tracking, and fine motor skills  covered. What more could a 4 ½ month old want? Oh wait,  that would be more milk!! So all this for fun for 99 cents! Good times! Good times!!