Schools out for the Summer!

I cannot believe the school year is over!  It really feels like I was JUST school shopping for the new year.  This year was the first year both of the kiddos were in school. Amelia in kindergarten and Nolan in preschool.  

::Amelia::

Amelia had an end of year performance celebrating what they learned in kindergarten and being ready for first grade.  It was super cute! Each class had a song and in the end all classes sang "first grade" to the tune of New York, New York.  Amelia also received an award for most bubbly,  of course my daughter has a bubbly personality!I have to admit,  I cried!  I'm seriously so emotional when it comes to the kids.  I just can't believe how much she has grown and learned in just the first year of kindergarten.  My girl is doing math and reading! In my day of school I don't remember doing that stuff in Kindergarten,  I remember colors and numbers!  Kids these days are so smart and learning so fast.  

::Nolan::

Nolan started preschool this year.  He was in the toddlers class {2-3 year olds} going in on MWF.  The end of year performance was for the whole school.  It was also the graduation for the adventures class {4-5 year olds} moving on to kindergarten.  Nolan's class is pretty young so they just did one dance and got awards.  I was really proud of Nolan!  He kept dancing and didn't cry.  A lot better from his Christmas performance! Lol He also got most improved award.  So awesome because I've seen so much improvement from him.  At the beginning of the year he was shy and quiet and now he is talkative and has lots of friends.  I was worried about putting him in preschool so young, but it's helped his speech and confidence so much that I know it was the right choice. 

They have grown so much! My babies aren't babies anymore!  Just looking at these pictures and writing this post makes me tear up.  

On a happy note, summer is here in full swing!!! We are slowly but surely working on our summer bucket list!  Much more fun to come!

Pulling the Plug

We did it!  We got bubs off his pacifier!

I've actually tried a couple times in the past, but have been unsuccessful.  This time we're done!  Thank the Lord!

This was a bit of a struggle for us both.  Not only was the paci a comfort for bubs, but it was a comfort for us too.  It was the one thing we knew that we could  use to comfort our lil guy.  Nolan took to a paci right away.  The first time I couldn't comfort him with by feeding or holding, I just stuck a paci in his mouth and it was a hit. {No judgement}.  He was really paci obsessed, he carried multiple pacis with him at a time and would switch them out.  We wouldn't dare leave the house without a pacifier.  I had them everywhere, the car, my bedroom, his bedroom, my purse, my diaper bag...everywhere.  The thought of not having one handy and him losing one would strike fear in my heart.  We knew that he needed to be off of it by his 2nd bday.  It was the same thing we did with Amelia.  M and I both agreed that 2 was the right age, we did't want them to go to college with pacifiers. lol

It was surprisingly quick for us.  A habit of 2 years we felt like we just needed to take it away quickly, like a band aid. So we cut a few of his pacifiers in half and gave him one.  His face when we gave him the paci was priceless.  He looked so confused! lol We told him that it was broken.  So he asked for another one, it too was broken.  He tried and tried to suck on them, but he looked so unsatisfied.  I told him they were broken and to throw them in the trash.  That was a bad idea, he kept going back to the trash and looking at them. it was the course of a day and he had gone through all the broken ones and thrown them in the trash.  Then it was cold turkey  He just went about his day and played, there were times where I could tell he was was searching for one.   He seemed almost a little lost.

Sleeping was a big struggle.  I didn't even want to put him down for a nap, I just let him tire out and he fell asleep on his own, no pacifier needed.  The first night was terrible.  He kept waking up and crying for it.  Poor lil guy.  He ended up sleeping with us because he was waking up so often.  it was a rough night for all of us.  In the morning he looked for a pacifier for a good 15 minutes then went on with his day.

Since then we haven't looked back.  Well, to be honest there have been a few breakdowns of his where I wish I could have just stuck a paci in his mouth.  Trust me, I was super close to doing that.  I did get my self control and just power through.  This wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I totally feared it for nothing.  I should have just put more faith in Nolan.  He is doing fine a week later, like nothing ever happened.  I see more of his facials expressions.  He seems to be communicating more and hopefully we didn't mess up his teeth. lol

Pacifier Lover

                                   

Before pulling the plug

                                 

After :)

                                 

So handsome without his Pacifier :)