Not-so-baby Ellie

I can't believe I'm going to attempt this today, especially when Jim is out of town. But I have no choice. Kathryn isn't the only one who wants to grow up around here-- So does my little baby Ellie! Oh, can't you stay a baby just a little bit longer??

Yes, Ellie is seeking a dramatic exit from her crib. I have seen her half-way out three times, and this last time she got stuck hanging from the top. SO, try as I may to delay the inevitable, she needs a big girl bed. And she's not even 2 yet!

So yesterday the girls and I hiked over to IKEA and bought her the same bed Kathryn has. And last night, after the girls went to bed I assembled it. So it's ready for her to use, but mommy is not ready. Things are going so well at bedtime now. Its so nice only having one to give encouragements, then warnings, then threats about staying in her bed. And in the mornings, we have such a great system. Kathryn wakes up and turns on their light and gives Ellie toys in her crib till mommy comes in, ready to tackle the day. So what time do you think we will all go to sleep tonight?



BYE BYE BABY, HELLO, BIG GIRL!









(Ok, we'll battle the bottle on another week!)

And, by the way, Kathryn is doing really well without her "ba". She and Scruffles have had some setbacks, but I think they are becoming better friends. The important thing is that the passie is history!

Life Without Ba, Day 1

I suppose we should have expected some resistance, but we were blissfully optimistic. After all, she said she was ready. So remind me the next time I count on a three year old to accurately assess her emotional ability to handle a major life change.

The trouble began about 1:30am when Kathryn found the puppy. With a disgruntled look she pulled on our sheets and begged me to come to her room. Phrases such as "I wanted a BLUE puppy" and "I changed my mind", and your general weeping and gnashing of teeth, were characteristic of the next 45 minutes. Sometime in that hour, she gave him the name "Scruffles", which I thought a rather endearing name. Maybe the puppy would make it after all. Eventually I made it back to bed.

Then a half hour later, I heard her door slam. A mommy tip-off from Kathryn "I don't want you to see what's going on in my room, mom." I stumbled back to her room and found the light on. She was rummaging through her stuffed animal basket to see if perhaps the Benkie Fairy had left a BLUE puppy somewhere else. Ellie was especially disheartened to hear that, no, it's not morning time, and mommy isn't here to play. Another 30 minutes pass...

A weeping Kathryn at our bedside. I think the realization must have hit at this point... "My ba is gone, and all I have is this stupid puppy, and what's worse, he's not blue." More discussion, more comforting... "I guess it's a good thing that when you came out of my tummy, I didn't tell the nurse, "I wanted a BLUE Kathryn! Send her back!", I tried. At this point, Kathryn ran from the room, flinging the puppy with force into the bathroom. I think that by about 4am, we all finally fell back asleep, Kathryn on the floor next to our bed. Poor Scruffles was sentenced to his first night alone in the bathtub.

By the light of dawn, (which came painfully soon) Scruffles looked a bit more inviting. Whereas in the middle of the night, he only looked drab brown, we discovered by morning that he actually had more golden tones. And we thought that perhaps, though we can't turn Scruffles blue, maybe we can give him a blue collar. We had a short photo shoot. Kathryn decided it would be better to keep Scruffles than give her to Ellie. (Ellie's efforts to steal him throughout the morning gave him a bit more value in K's eyes.) We made it through the first day. And, what mommy finds curious is that in all the discussion about Scruffles, the dearly departed "ba" was never mentioned. So maybe there is hope.

It's 8pm, night 2. My only hope is that she will be too exhausted to ponder the fate of her "ba" and we will all sleep through the night...

Poor Scruffles. Doesn't he look sweet?

Bye-Bye Ba?

Today is a day of great significance in our short history as parents. After many failed attempts to convince our 3 1/2 year old that it was time to part ways with her beloved passie ("ba"-- when she was 10 months, she gave it this name, and it will forever be called "ba"), she told us unprompted that today she was ready. This is a BIG deal. This ba (not the very one, but this kind!) has been with her since she came home from the hospital, and it has been her most treasured comfort since. So this is a VERY big deal!

I'd like to think that it has been due to all of our transition, and not some kind of deficiency in our parenting, that allows an almost 4 year old child to still sleep with a "ba". Our last separation attempt was mistakenly right before daddy's 2 week trip. What lasted for a couple of days melted in a pile of tears and mommy's weakened resolve. She got the "ba", she was happy, I was happy. I decided then that if she wanted to go to college with the thing strapped around her neck, that wouldn't be so bad.

My sister in law told me about 6 months ago that the "Benkie Fairy" that came to visit their house. Yes, a cousin to the Tooth Fairy visited my niece and left behind (money, I believe?) to pick out a snuggle bear replacement. All of our principles about not "deceiving" our children with notions of Santa and the Easter Bunny were thrown out the window with hopes that this might be the effective motivation. (We're fine with dear old Santa, but they know he's just pretend.) Yet alas, the thought of the Benkie Fairy snatching her "ba" in the middle of the night brought only terror, not bliss. So again we waited. But I did go ahead and buy the requested snuggle puppy to have on hand, just in case the Benkie Fairy should happen to make a special trip to Singapore. And today, as Kathryn brought me her one remaining "ba" in shreds, she said "Mommy, maybe I don't need my ba anymore."

I put in an immediate call to the Benkie Fairy to see, if with just a few hours notice, could she possibly arrive tonight? And having just spoken with her, I have it on very authoritative word that she is feverishly in transit as I write. It's 8pm, and Kathryn is too excited to sleep of course. But just as Santa is probably the one night a year where parents have some agreeable leverage towards obedient behavior, I haven't seen her peek her head out the door once. The Benkie Fairy doesn't come until she goes to sleep, of course.

Do you think we'll make it? Do you think that by tomorrow, January 21st in the year 2007, at 4 months shy of 4 years old, our Kathryn will be passie-free? Say a prayer for us!!