Yes, we have decided the time has come, the time is now, the time is here to say “Peace out” to the plug. Well, DH and I have decided; Co-dizzle is in for a big surprise. Last night at dinner, DH and I just concluded that enough is enough when it comes to Co and the plug. We had successfully weaned her off of having it hanging out of her mouth 24/7, and we even got her to stop taking it to preschool. The one last hold-out was having her use it when she slept –nap time and nighttime. It wouldn’t be so bad, really, but the problem is, in the very depths of the middle of the night, Co will lose the plug. Then she starts to cry. She doesn’t wake up, she doesn’t even feel around for the plug in her sleep. And I have to admit, that’s probably our fault because, in our haste to plug her back up before she woke Mo, we just ran in there with plugs in our pockets. So now, in the great tradition of Pavlov, we’ve conditioned her to cry when the plug is no longer in her mouth until we come in and shove one back in there. Or maybe, she’s conditioned us. . .
Whatever the case, breaking up is hard to do. Exhibit A: last night, bedtime. Usually, the plug is the last thing Co gets before getting into the crib. Dinner, bath, story, prayers, plug, crib. Peace out ’til tomorrow. Last night, we just cut her off, cold turkey and ol‘ girl cried and cried and cried. And cried. For 65 minutes, according to DH. As I’ve mentioned before, Co and Mo’s room is connected via a common door. DH said he heard the sound of little 3 year old feet, the opening of the common door and the muted admonitions to Co from Mo to “stop that noise”. Not once, but twice. Evidently, Mo needs her beauty sleep more than we realized. Funny, considering trying to get her to go to sleep is like trying to convince a carnivore that Tofurkey is an acceptable substitution at Thanksgiving. Nuh-uh. It ain’t happening. But I digress.

The thing is, Co can sleep without the plug. She falls asleep in the car without it all the time. She’s napped without it in her own crib. It’s the nighttime routine that is the challenge. But we’re up to it — and oh, is she a formidable opponent. She cried out in the middle of the night and I refused to torture myself by looking at the clock to see how long it lasted. We just waited her out — ahhh, just like old time with Mo and her plug withdrawal. Today, Mo and I braved nap time with Co sans plug and we all survived. I even got some studying done. Tonight is Round 2. DH put the girls to bed and he said that Co was looking around for her plug as he lowered her into the crib. “She was a little disappointed when she didn’t see it,” he said. “Then I asked her if she was going to sleep through the night.”

“And she said ‘No’, right?” I ask.

“No,” he says, “She didn’t say anything at all.”

Well, as I’ve once heard, your silence affirms the action. Here’s to quiet nights. And to our good friend the plug, a thousand thanks.

So, I’m a little behind in getting these pictures done and posted, but good things come to those who wait. When I told Mo we were going to the Picture Peeps to get the pictures done, she was kind of ambivalent about it. When she saw we break out the dresses, she basically shot out of her clothes and was doing some kind of naked toddler hippy–hippy shake, chanting “My dress, my dress, my dress, my dress!” Wow. I mean, I feel that way about chocolate and most fried food, but never about some clothes. Well, maybe my wedding dress — (side note: in the months before our wedding, when the dress would just be hanging in my closet, I used to put it on and wear while I watched tv. I mean, after the wedding, am I really going to wear it again? Better break it in!). Anyway, the ham factor was high for the cameras and when it was all said and done, trying to pick one of each of them and one of them together was near impossible. Well, I’m a little biased. . .

That little mischievous look

BIG hugs

Doing a little dance

I think she’s been practicing at home

A Typical Co Pose

Uhhhh. . .I don’t know what’s worse: My full stomach, the fact that I know in complete anatomic and physiological detail what is going on inside my stomach (thank you chapter 23 and 24), Co’s crap-tastic filled diaper that surely awaits as a result of today’s lunch, or the overwhelming urge to just say, “Whatever, man,” at the mountain of notes, diagrams and textbooks waiting for me at the kitchen table — yes, we all know that is not going to happen, but it feels good to talk trash about it.

*sigh* Darn you, Moe’s Southwest Grill!! I hate to love you!

And so I will be returning to school on Monday. Back to the books. I have really enjoyed this past week of doing a whole lot of nothing except what I want to do, when I want to do it.

Highlights of the Week

Hanging with Mo and Co doing various things like including but not limited to:

making cupcakes — real cupcakes, not that Easy Cool Bake Oven contraption.

library visit with Arlie B.

cooling out at the park with Arlie B.

cooling out on the front stoop with the neighborhood kids

coloring

napping

sleeping in ’til 6:45am (well, anything past 5:30am is sleeping in for me).

Other Highlights of the Week

Flight of the Conchords — where have I been that I am only now coming to know this hilarity!?!

Finishing the Twilight Series — though that probably doesn’t count because I finished it up by like Sunday night.

QT with DH without worrying about the studying that needs to be done.

New shoes!!! — Oh, this is great. I had an unused gift card rolling around in my purse and I found these wedge-tastic shoes that were already 70% off. And then I found another pair that were also 70% off, so I got those. Grape-a-licious! And if that weren’t enough, I found yet another pair of shoes, albeit in my very own closet , but still that I forgot I had them. It was like getting a new pair of shoes for free! A veritable shoe-a-palooza over here. Just call me Imelda!

And so it is with a heavy heart, I start to reign in all the fun times and shoe-related debauchery for the more practical and sensible routine that comes with being a responsible student. Early to bed, early to rise, right? I don’t know about the healthy, wealthy and wise part, but I do know my feet will look cute regardless.

So, we totally use the 5 second rule in our house when it comes to food items that have been dropped on the floor. Correction: the girls and I use the 5 second rule — I can’t speak for DH, and even if he did use it, I doubt he’d want me to put it out there for all to know. Anywhoodle, the 5 second rule is in full effect.

The other day, my mom had come over for lunch and Co dropped a grape or four over the side of her tray. My mom subscribes to the “kiss it up to God” rule of dropped items and put it into practice. Mo watched her with intense curiosity, and demanded (seriously) that Yia–Yia explain what she did.

After “Kissing it up to God 101” was complete, lunch was over, another granddaughter/grandmother moment was in the books. Fast forward to today’s lunchtime at my parents house. Yia–Yia is out, Co-dizzle is doing her chipmunk impression with at least half a dozen grapes wedged into her cheeks, and Mo is trying to cajole Pop-Pop out his last remaining potato chips.

Lunch was pretty basic: tuna sandwiches, grapes, chips and sliced cucumbers. The girls did a pretty good job on it, considering they both had had breakfast at home, snack at school and snack in the car on the way to my parents house . I don’t know if they’ve trained me to give them snack as soon as they get in the car or I’ve trained them to expect it, but as soon as they are secured in the car seats, cries for snack (or “nack” as Co says) abound!

Mo ate most of her sandwich, a few grapes and all of her chips. She saw that Pop-Pop was methodically eating what was left of his and so began to negotiate with him for some chips.

Mo: How about five chips?

Pop-Pop: How about ten chips? (I should have warned him that she’s quick.)

Mo: Okay!

Pop-Pop: Wait, wait. You know that ten is more than five?

Mo: Yes (like duh, old man, gimme the chips).

So, Pop-Pop tries to stall and gives her a few cucumber slices with the promise that once those are eaten, she can have the chips. As she’s eating those, he makes short work of the chips he has left and tries to cover up the rest with his hand at the bottom of the bowl. When Mo asks for her chips, Pop-Pop turns the bowl upside down and says, “They’re all gone!” and of course, one lonely chip breaks free from his grasp and hits the floor.

Faster than you can say “Lay’s”, Mo is out her seat, smooching the chip, raising it to the sky and popping it in her mouth.

That kid learns quick, I tell ya.

Mo is on spring break this week, and the TV has been sweating from the work-out that it has been getting. For those of you who don’t know, I really try to limit TV watching for Mo to the week-ends only. That usually means, an hour or two on Saturdays and another hour or so on Sundays. Any TV watching at Yia–Yia and Pop-Pop’s during the week or anything that DH happens to put on when I’m not around, well, don’t ask, don’t tell.

So, Mo has been giving the TV a fit this week. She’s on break, which is like extended week-end, we had a snow day, then she’s not feeling so good, Co is underfoot, I need some Calgon and it was just easier to put it on. She’s watched The Backyardigans, and the Wonder Pets, and Olivia (which is SO awesome, by the way), and Yo Gabba, Gabba! — which I’m still not sure I can even classify as a children’s program and more of a meth trip gone awry. But, I digress.

Sunday, Mo’s watching Blues Clues, and it’s a harmless enough episode about Love Day (aka Valentine’s Day). Part of the reason it’s so riveting for Mo is that it features Cinderella, and we all know how she loves her DP’s (*sigh*). Anyway, Blues Clues, like these other shows, feature singing and dancing, which is great because it gets her up off the couch and moving and shaking. Her mind is like a steel trap; she hears a song and she’s rattling the lyrics off, on key, in tune, word for word — except for her rendition of Pump It, by the Black Eyed Peas, but that’s another story for another time. She’s wiggling around the house, singing, “We are looking for Blue’s Clues, we are looking for Blue’s Clues,”. It sounds like what the Gypsy Kings would play if they catered to the preschool set.

Today, Mo is at the table coloring printable pages of DP’s (yes, I gave them to her) and singing something about a mop, a slipper and a man. Here goes the convo.

Me: What are you singing?

Mo: A song from Blue’s Clues

Me: What song?

Mo: A Cinderella Blue’s Clues Love Day Song.

Me: How’s it go?

Mo: (puts down the crayons and starts to shimmy in her seat) I dropped my mop and to the castle I ran. I lost my slipper, but I got my man!

Oh. My. Word.

I swear, just let me get that Cinderella in a dark alley. Just me, just her. She’s gonna lose a lot more than that flippin‘ slipper!