NoJo's a big boy and I'm in the picture.

Nolan: Smiling!  Beck: You will never catch me smiling nicely.

On September 20, I mentioned in my post that Nolan was hooked on his pacifier.  Sometimes, you just have to put it out there, into the universe, and things change.  The very next day, we had a talk with Nolan's teachers at daycare.  He's in the "Tottler" room and will soon be moving to the "Toddler" room.  He was using his pacifier for naps, but they don't allow pacifiers in the Toddler room, so his teachers thought they should start putting him down without his pacifier to get him accustomed to napping without it before he makes the switch to the next room.  We agreed that it was a good idea, and also agreed that we needed to make the change at home, too, to provide him with consistency.  We decided to make the change starting the next Monday.  I picked him up that day, and they told me he did just fine.  Seriously?!?  I almost didn't believe it.*  I sucked it up and as soon as we got home, I ran through the house to collect and hide his pacifiers.  I was very nervous, because he had been very dependent on them, both for sleeping and for soothing himself throughout the day.  But, it went well.  Waaaaay better than I expected.  And, just like that, no pacifier.  Looking back, I can see that in the month or so leading up to Operation Pacifier Removal, Nolan was going through a tough time.  He was getting his bottom molars.  He broke his arm.  Paul was out of town quite a bit.  I was stressed out and probably not doing a great job of staying calm enough to try to soothe him without the help of the pacifier.  Luckily, he was in a much better place when Operation Pacifier Removal went into effect.  And, he handled it like a complete champ.  He was ready.  I was ready to trust that he could do it (although I was nervous and skeptical).  Phew.  He's been totally pacifier-free for three weeks.  Awesome job, Nolan! 

 

In other news, I'm in this picture.  That's me, between the two boys.  It's been a while since we posted a picture of me, so I understand if you've forgotten what I look like.  (p.s. does anyone read this blog anymore?  hello?  hellooooo?)  I don't look that great in the picture.  But, I recently read this article at The Huffington Post, about how moms are often not in their family pictures. 

 

"It seems logical. We're sporting mama bodies and we're not as young as we used to be. We don't always have time to blow dry our hair, apply make-up, perhaps even bathe (ducking). The kids are so much cuter than we are; better to just take their pictures, we think."

"But we really need to make an effort to get in the picture. Our sons need to see how young and beautiful and human their mamas were. Our daughters need to see us vulnerable and open and just being ourselves -- women, mamas, people living lives. Avoiding the camera because we don't like to see our own pictures? How can that be okay?"

I certainly don't intentionally shy away from the camera, but I'm usually the one taking the pictures, and if Paul does capture a picture of me with the boys, I usually don't look that cute (see the lack of bathing above - yeah, I'm usually looking pretty grubby), so I'm not in a hurry to post it.  Anyway, I do miss seeing myself with my family, so I'm going to make more of an effort to be in the pictures.  This was taken on our first official family hike.  We went to Lookout Mountain, which is a very short drive from our house and did a .6 mile loop.  It was short, but a perfect introduction for the boys.  It was a beautiful fall day, and we stopped to visit Buffalo Bill's grave and museum on the way down.  I really want to do more outdoor activities as a family, and this was a good start.
_______________________________________________

*Sometimes, he would scream, seriously SCAAREEEEAM, loudly, tearfully, agonizingly, the whole way home from daycare to our house, which is at least a 25 minute drive, because he wanted his pacifier.  I would try daily to just not give it to him when we were at home, especially if he was playing or engaged in something else, but he would ask for it, and then cry for it, and I would inevitably give in, because I just didn't think it was worth it for Beck and me to try to hang out with, and attempt to ignore, a very loud, unhappy Nolan all day long.  Beck and I even made up a song to sing in the car to try to distract Nolan from his pacifier-denial crying - "No more crying, no more crying, Nolan John, Nolan John, put a smile on your face, put a smile on your face, just like this, just like this" - sung to the tune of Frere Jacques - (and Beck and I would SMILE :D and act goofy and try to get him to stop crying, to no avail).  That is why I was so skeptical that he could give it up that easily.