Big Boy Will!

Great news from big boy Will- we are going on three days completely pacifier-free!! David and I are shocked at how smooth the transition has been. I think Will was ready to give it up. We started last Wednesday by only giving him one when he was sleeping. So unless he was napping or sleeping at night, he wasn't allowed a paci. He asked for his "sassy" a couple of times but mostly it wasn't a big deal for him. Mornings were super-easy. I would take his pacifier from him at breakfast and he just didn't care. He would get it back at nap time and go right to sleep. After his afternoon nap, however, it was a struggle. It wasn't that he needed to have it, but he would get very upset at me taking it away from him. Like he was worried he would never get it back (smart boy!). We had a couple of fits after the afternoon nap because I had taken away his paci.

On Friday night David and I decided that cold turkey was the only way to go. Even though we frequently told him that his paci was only for bedtime we thought it was still too confusing to allow him to have it at times and to deprive him of it at others. So Friday night we prepared for the worst. During Will's bedtime stories he kept asking for his "sassy." We kept telling him that "pacis are for babies and Will is a big boy." He got upset so we put him to bed. David and I accepted that it might be a long and difficult night. We started a movie and prepared to be strong. Unbelievably, there was no screaming or temper tantrums. Will alternated between fussing and playing and after 30-40 minutes, he was sound asleep. He didn't make a peep until 8:30 the next morning!! Which is about an hour and a half later than he usually slept with a pacifier!! We thought for sure it was a fluke. But Saturday night, same thing. A little bit of fussiness, but then asleep after 15-20 minutes. Will has had a little more trouble napping without it but today, for instance, he was asleep after ten minutes. We've found that giving him a car and a book helps him wind down without the paci. He "reads" his book, plays with his car and eventually falls asleep. So, we are three days completely paci-free and Will is a new man!! I was so dreading the process of weaning off the pacifier and it was really no big deal (knock on wood we're not speaking too soon on that).

One of the huge benefits of being off the pacifier is that Will is talking a lot more frequently and a lot more clearly. He is very entertaining and so adorable! Last night he wanted a piece of cheese for a snack. So I handed it to him and he said "dank-do" (thank you)! Completely umprompted. Such a polite little man! He said it again this morning at the doctor's office when I handed him one of his cars. He loves pointing out things that he knows. In the grocery store, he points to food he knows (carrots, oranges, strawberries, apples). I can't convince him that tomatoes aren't apples though. He loves pointing out the parts of our faces (nose, mouth, teeth, ears, eyes, head, etc.). He's especially funny some mornings when he'll point to David and say "Daddy," point to me and say "ah-me" (mommy) and point to Zoe and say "Zoe!" David tells Will that there are no introductions needed but Will likes to make sure everyone is present and accounted for. It's so fun to hear him talk so much more!

Will has also started shown new interest in his diapers. He often lies down on the floor of his room and tries to put a clean diaper on over his pants- like he's trying to change his own diaper! Several times this week he's said "diapers" when he needs a diaper change. Very handy! Twice, he has said "diapers" right before he "dirties" a diaper. So, we've ordered a potty chair and some books about using the potty. Just for introductions. But if we can get him to start telling us that he needs a new diaper before he actually does, maybe it's time to introduce the potty!

In other fun news, we finally got Will his very own adult-sized basketball so he can stop stealing other kids' balls at the playground. We've taken him to the basketball court a couple of times and he loves it! He wants desperately to join other kids' games but so far we've kept him out of their way. He loves playing basketball with David and he has even tried to dribble a few times, although he doesn't quite have the hang of it yet. He just loves to see the ball bounce and run around carrying the ball. He also loves it when David shoots the ball and he runs to chase after it. I have a few pictures below, which aren't the best quality because I took them with my phone- but you can still see how much Will enjoys playing. When I ask if he wants to "play some b-ball" he yells "b-ball!"

Finally, we've been starting to work on letters and colors. He can say red, blue, purple and yellow and I think he can identify red and blue colors but he doesn't always cooperate when I try to quiz him. We also got him a new puzzle that is an "alphabet train" with all of the letters (and animals that begin with those letters) lined up in a row. It's 10 feet long so Will thinks it's neat. I've started working on just "a" through "d". He can repeat letters "a", "b" and "d" but doesn't recognize them yet. Oddly, he recognizes the letter "z" though. He'll also point to the "y" train and say "Yak" (which is the animal on that train car). We're just doing introductions and not really pushing the letters so we're not too anxious to get him to learn the alphabet. Plenty of time for that later. Mostly he likes taking the puzzle pieces apart and putting them back together.

Unfortunately, at the moment Will is a bit under the weather. He started with a runny nose and coughing yesterday and it seems to be a little worse this morning. He had been coughing constantly (and there is no safe cough syrup for his age). But I gave him his inhaler right before nap time and that seems to have helped. At the moment he's getting some good sleep so hopefully he'll wake up feeling a bit better. We hope it clears up soon and that he doesn't spread it to us- especially since we're getting a visit from Uncle Kyle and Aunt Erica later this week.

Finally, Baby Dickinson #2 is still doing well. I had my 24 week appointment this morning (I'm currently 23 weeks and 5 days). Heart beat was a strong 150 bpm and I measured 23 1/2 weeks exactly. As much as I would like to think that means I'll have an average-sized baby, Will measured "right on" until close to the very end. Then I started measuring ahead of schedule and he came out 10 pounds. I hope this guy is smaller! My blood pressure and thyroid levels are good and it was a pretty uneventful appointment- just how I like them! My next appointment will be at 28 weeks and around that time I'll have more bloodwork to check my thyroid levels and I'll have to do the glucose test to screen for gestational diabetes. I did that test early on and everything was normal. Hopefully it will still be normal. I'm going back on Friday to do a second ultrasound since they couldn't get adequate pictures of the spine. Hopefully he'll be more cooperative!