Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Great Binkie Swap

Anyone who has been around Rosie tends to notice a few things about her – she has huge, beautiful eyes that are so expressive they capture you. She is a chatterbox. She has blond hair – contrasting both of her parents. And she never likes to be without her Binkie.

I swore that my kids wouldn’t go on a Binkie. After all – Binkies cause nipple confusion for breastfed babies, according to the lactation lady we saw before Rosie was born. I was committed to nursing, so no binkies for me! That is, of course, until Rosie was actually here and I was willing to saw off my right arm if it meant she would stop crying. The nursery nurse suggested a binkie – and I was willing to try anything. From day one, it worked like a charm.

Fast forward to December 2007. We told Rosie that, at the ripe old age of one, she could only have her binkie at nighttime, naptime and in the car (which was usually naptime anyway). This worked beautifully, and three binkies became a part of her night and naptime routine. Since this went so well, I had every intention of cutting the bink out completely by the summer of 2008. What stopped us from complete binkie removal? Guilt. I was pregnant again – and what if the new baby needed a binkie? I just couldn’t do that to Rosie – she got to keep her little rubber pieces of comfort.

Rosie is allowed to sleep with three binkies. One for her mouth and one for each hand. When she is tired, cranky, upset or hurt – she asks for them. Sometimes, she just likes to hold them. Other times, she tells you “I don’t need my Binkie right now.” About two months ago we were in Babies R Us and she saw a purple Binkie. “Mommy – I need that. I need the purple Binkie, please!” How could I say no? Rosie has 6 Binkies in her room – 2 green, 1 blue, 1 purple and 2 pink. The blue and one of the pink ones are a harder plastic than the others. She picks her three every night by their color – but she almost always chooses the purple one.

RJ is nowhere near the Binkie addict that Rosie has been. He looks for it every now and then, but doesn’t need it to fall asleep or be happy and content. An unexpected bonus to the binkie – it is a bond between brother and sister. Rosie likes that RJ has a binkie and gets very upset when the binkie isn’t near him. If she has hers, she is likely to try and shove one in his mouth. (Again – good sharing, Rosie!) They have even invented their own little Binkie game. The Great Binkie Swap – check out the video to see what a 2-year-old and 4-month-old come up with when left to themselves!

Roll, Baby, Roll!

Rosie and I had a relatively sleepless night last night, so when RJ woke up, he got fed and went straight to Daddy. Rosie and I conked back out in the spare room for a few hours until Rich had to hop in the shower. When Rich brought RJ in to us, he shared some exciting yet disturbing news. RJ rolled over.

At first, I completely discounted the event because RJ had been on the bed. The soft surface helped him along, I thought. So this really couldn’t count as a rollover…could it? I had to test this out myself. I put him down on our family room floor to see what he would do.

He looked up…looked around…smiled a bit. Then, he started to push. He was working really hard to flop himself over – and all that work had him tootin’ up a storm. But – after a few minutes of trying, grunting and tooting – he got it and rolled right onto his back!

How could this be? My little boy is only 4 months old. I’m not ready for him to roll over yet! He’s just a baby! But he is a strong little guy – and I’m sure, just like his daredevil primate sister, he will be keeping us on our toes constantly!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

RJ SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!

Much like this sister, RJ is not a born sleeper. He sometimes gives us a good 4 hour stretch in the middle of the night – but typically, he sleeps the best and the longest when snuggled up in our arms. Even the snuggle technique only keeps him asleep for a few short hours. So – when I put the kids to bed last night, I was prepared for another typical night in the Galasso household. RJ falls asleep. Rosie falls asleep. Carry RJ to his crib. Carry Rosie to her bed. RJ wakes up, comes into bed with us. Rosie wakes up, Rich goes into bed with her. This is pretty much a nightly pattern in our household. Not last night.
Rose fell asleep, face first, on my bed at 10. RJ was not far behind her. I carried RJ into his crib and laid him down gently – he didn’t stir. I carried Rosie into her room and put her on her bed. She moved around, and I thought for sure she would be up shortly. While Rich was still at hockey practice, I sat on our bed and tried to finish off my homework before one of the kids woke up. RJ woke up first.

He woke up, had a little snack and then fell back to sleep on my bed. I kept him there, expecting him to wake up and want to eat again at any minute – but he stayed asleep. Rich got home and held RJ for a few minutes before I carried him back to the crib. At 1:30, I shut down the laptop and tried to put myself to bed. I didn’t even want to fall asleep because I was just waiting for someone to wake up.

6:15 rolls around – and Rosie is standing up on her bed yelling “Mom! Come get me! I need Mommy!” Rich nudges me and says “Rosie is up.” I sit up, look around and start to get out of bed. Then he asks “where is the baby?”

“In the crib.”

“Oh – you got him back in?”

“I never took him out…”

Panic sets in immediately. What is wrong with my son? Why didn’t he wake up in the middle of the night? I grab the monitor and take a look – he is still peacefully on his side, just like I left him. Now I am in a full panic and Rosie is starting to freak out. I bribe her with chocolate milk if she will just stand in the hall quietly for a few minutes while I check on RJ. She does…and I open his door. As I open the door, he rolls just slightly onto his back. Phew – he is fine. Which means…

HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! WOO-HOO!!

Sunday, February 15, 2009