Bye-Bye-Binkie

Had I known,  I might not have done it.

Sam didn't like his pacifier when he was first born, but I kept offering it to him because research showed it might help reduce his risk of SIDS.  Once he turned one and that risk became almost zero he was fairly attached to it so I decided to not get rid of it right away.  With each passing day he became more and more attached and soon it became clear it wasn't going away on its own. 

We worked on getting rid of it in baby steps, starting with Mother's Day Out this fall - no binkie at school this year.  Next came no binkie on the couch, it had to stay on the bed.  Once he started sneaking it out of his room, hiding it behind his blankie, I decided I'd had enough!  We put binkie away with the promise of ice cream if he made it through the night.  That first night went great and we stopped for ice cream on our way home from MDO the next day!  He hasn't asked for it since.  That went MUCH more smoothly than I thought it would.  Pheew.

Sweet Snowman

 By far his favorite craft yet.

He made a snowman by licking each marshmallow and sticking it on to the outline I drew.  Then we added the carrot nose and other snowmanly accessories.  He was super proud!

Lounging

A year ago he didn't want to go anywhere near it.  Now Sam loves this swing.

Turns out it's a handicapped swing, no leg holes which makes for easy access!

Kissing Hand

Sam was so excited to show me his "kissing hand" when I picked him up from Mother's Day Out this afternoon.

I asked him if they read the book and he said no, but I'm thinking they must have.  I used to have my own copy, but I couldn't find it, so we'll have to check it out from the library the next time we go.

Breakfast

It was a two-bowl morning.

Two

full

bowls of oatmeal, more than Daddy eats when he has oatmeal for breakfast. All eaten with a little baby Gerber spoon. :)

Let's Go Look at Books

Just a quick stop at the library after running errands, before heading home to fix dinner.

Two of our favorites in these pictures: 

Lulu's Busy Day

and

Sally Goes to the Mountains

.

Swings

Brian had the day off today and it was nice to have him home.

He watched Sam while I went to the store and then after lunch we took a walk to the lake and the park. Sam had fun watching the ducks and swinging. It was cold by the water, but overall, not too bad for January 2nd!

Gingerbread Boy

This was a first for both of us.

I'd never done an official gingerbread house before, only the graham-cracker-on-a-milk-carton kind when teaching second grade years ago. This came from a kit I got at JoAnn's and it was very sturdy and easy to put together. Sam had fun deocrating once I got everything assembled. He worked on this with me for a long time. He put each "little ball" on the roof very carefully and was dilligent about getting every last peppermint somewhere on the house. We think it turned out pretty cool!