Big girl

I haven't posted in awhile because I've been sick. Sick with two babies just means that I don't get free time or sleep. I just stagger around doing the bare minimum.

Libby announced that she wanted to spend the night with Grandma "Leela" last week. So, Grandma took her home. She went to sleep late, but without a fuss, and without a bottle. The next day she played hard, swam a lot and got sunburned. She wanted to stay another night, but changed her mind around 6:00, and Grandma brought her home.

In the meantime, I had the brilliant idea to get rid of the bottles while she was gone. I ran to the store and bought some cool new bedtime props: new "big girl" blankie, new pjs, and a Whiskers the Mouse. Whiskers is filled with soothing aromatherapy herbs, and can be heated in the microwave. Since her "hot baba" was her comfort thang, I thought that having something that could be warmed would be a good transition. I put everything in a shiny gold gift bag, and made her card from the Bottle Fairy:
Yes, it was manipulative and deceitful. I felt desperate times called for desperate measures. I had managed to get her to take water-only bottles, for fear of bottle caries, but she insisted on at least one refill every night. That meant I washed crib sheets and blankets (depending on her mood, up to 3 at a time) every single day, and sometimes after naptime as well.

I left the bag in her crib, and threw the bottles away. When she got home, I showed her the empty place on the counter where her bottles used to be kept, and told her that the bottle fairy had come and taken them and left her a present. We ran to her room and "discovered" the bag together. I read her the card, and she was very excited. She adores her new blankie, and has gone to sleep without bottles ever since. She has asked for them though. She even went so far as to ask for one of the baby's bottles. We just keep reminding her that she's a big girl. However, she has insisted on having a cup of milk at bedtime, which brings dental worries back into the picture. I'm hoping that eventually the cup of milk will lose its appeal. At least she doesn't stay awake, asking for refill after refill, and she doesn't actually go to sleep drinking the cup.

Now we just have to deal with potty training. She still isn't interested. My older two trained late, so I am not pushing it, especially not with her temperament. She still doesn't quite get the signals, and is content to sit in a dirty diaper for hours if I would let her.

I will end with the top ten cutest Libby quotes from this week:

1. "I luh me Mommy"
2. "I teach me Ari baby talk"
3. "I happy me Ari baby luh me"
4. "I need me mommy, me baby" (when she was crying to come home from Grandma's)
5. "I like me dance shoes" (white patent leather mary janes)
6. "Daddy Paul toe hurt, me step daddy toe me dance shoes"
7. "I make Bubby blue pie" (stirring dirty dishwater in a Dutch oven at the sink)
8. "I have bad dream" ( 5 minutes after naptime started)
9. "Mommy get check up? Mommy hurt toe?" (when I had to go to the Dr last week-NOT a toe problem)
10. "Yummy daddy moon bread!"(Croissants that Paul bought for sandwiches)