Bye-bye paci

As I write, we are in the midst of night one of "bye-bye paci". So far, so good. Mia has been sick with one thing or another for over three weeks now. She's had a virus, allergies, sinus infection and now is getting multiple teeth. We have all gotten minimal sleep over the past month due mostly to her congestion and coughing. Through all those trips to get our poor crying girl in the middle of the night (some nights as many as 8 or 9 times an hour), we are also called in frequently simply because she has dropped her paci out of the crib. Even on "good nights", we typically make one or two trips in for that same reason. Today I decided that if we currently aren't sleeping anyway, we might as well take advantage of the opportunity to get rid of the paci, so when things go back to normal maybe we can eliminate those unnecessary midnight paci hunts.

Miss Mia wasn't so happy about this turn of events. We met Mamaw Carol at the walking trail after dinner and Mia was already tired and fussy. She started asking for her paci and I told her paci went bye-bye. Well she didn't like that and a tantrum ensued. She cried off and on for the next hour and a half until I thought she was tired enough to fall asleep. I put her in her crib and sat in the rocking chair next to her for the next 10-15 minutes while she shrieked, hit, kicked, and threw things. I just kept talking to her, telling her I knew she was mad and unhappy. I told her paci had to go but Mommy was here, etc. After she stopped crying, she stood up in her bed for another 15 minutes or so, fighting sleep. Then she laid down and fought it for another 10 minutes or so. Finally the central air came on and the white noise of that knocked her out. She never cried for paci once she was in her bed. She's woken up twice already and didn't cry out for her paci either, and she fell back to sleep before I needed to go in there. Like I said, she's been waking up all night anyway due to her teeth and other illnesses, but if I can prevent unnecessary paci runs, we're ahead of the game!

In other news, Mia (and Mommy and Daddy) is adjusting better in daycare. She seems happy and her vocabulary continues to amaze me! The other day I sneezed and she said, "Bless you Mommy." Just like that. The crazy thing is that Mike is not one to "bless" someone after sneezing, so she got it from somewhere outside our home. Not only did she know that's what you say after a sneeze, she knew to "bless" the person sneezing!

She is making little motor noises when she pushes around her bath toys as though they're boats. She also likes to lay on her tummy in the tub and kick her legs. She says, "kick, kick, kick" for added effect.

Mia seems to be having a little growth spurt. She's thinning out, she seems taller and her feet are getting bigger. She's still mostly in 18 month clothes, but I think that may just be because they are shorts and capri pants. Once we have to get long pants, we may be headed for the 24 month sizes. At her doctor's appointment last week she weighed 25 lbs and 4 oz. She has her 18 month check up this week so we'll see how tall she is too.