The Last Vestige of Baby-hood (sniff, sniff)

I have to admit that LJ still has (had) his pacifier. We have always kept pacifier use confinded to the bed and only available during sleep-time, but - up until last Sunday, LJ still had his. Mind you, this is the same pacifier he's had since he was 8 months old (the last time we bought a pacifier for him). It was part of a 2-pack and one has been lost for a long time, so this was it. This thing was mangled, had holes in it and could not be too satisfying for him. About a month ago, I told LJ that he could take his pacifier to the toy store and trade it in for a toy. He thought about it and said, "when I get 5, I'll do that". I told him I didn't know if his pacifier would make it until he as 5 and I let it go. Last Thursday, I noticed the top bulb of the rubber part was hanging by a thread and I told him I had to take it off because it was dangerous...so, he had a stump for a pacifier. I told him that he needed to trade it in soon - if it gets too bad, the toy store won't take it. Last Friday, during nap time, I gave it to him and he told me I could put it back in the drawer - he didn't want it. Frankly, for about 6 months now - whenever I'd go in his room at night - he wouldn't have it in his mouth anyway. Last Saturday, we were out running errands and he said he wanted to go to the toy store, so I asked if he brought his pacifier and he hadn't, so we made plans to go on Sunday. Sunday came and he was ready to go. We took his pacifier and headed to the toy store.

LJ picked out a round-house for his train set and he was all-too-proud to hand the cashier his pacifier. I stayed behind to "get the receipt" and we went home and set up his round house. LJ has talked a little about missing his pacifier, but it is quickly followed by how much he loves his new toy. He has some ideas for what PJ should get when he trades in his pacifier...that kid is always scheming.

So, that is it. He is no longer a baby at all. That was the last thing. He still has a blanket he sleeps with, but I still have my baby blanket too...I don't sleep with it, but I have it.

I remember having my pacifier, so I was never itching for LJ to get rid of it...I figured it'd happen when it happened. I remember being told that we left my pacifier at my grandmother's house - being very upset about this sudden loss - and then SEEING MY PACIFIER IN THE TRASH CAN. I didn't take it out because I think I knew what was going on. They were going to take it away from me anyway. I recall feeling socked in the stomach - now, I would label that emotion...betrayed. It all worked out fine - I am a functioning adult with no parental issues, but I wanted LJ to come to this decision on his own...with just a little prodding from me!

Confession

Out of the blue - LJ told me that he helps himself to cookies on the counter. We made cookies for Valentine's Day and he told me, "I go in the kitchen and open the bag and get a cookie. If I hear Daddy coming, I shove the whole cookie in my mouth so that he won't know I am eating a cookie." It is hilarious to me that he can be so deceptive in one moment and then, out of the blue, just spontaneously rat himself out. I took this opportunity to remind him how sad Daddy was that he and PJ ate all of his Valentine's donuts. LJ has said he is sorry, out of the blue, about this many times. This time he said, "I'm sorry that we ate them, but Momma, I just like donuts."

They Played So Well Together...

This morning, my alarm went off at 5:00 am (I'm still going to the gym at 5:30 - 5 days a week) - and RJ told me he hadn't slept since 3:30...when LJ woke us up to tell us he had to go to the bathroom. Many times, he just goes, but for some reason - this time he decided he must inform us.

Once I got to work, I called the house and RJ told me that he was laying in bed and the kids were playing really well together. They had watched some TV (I set it up to where all LJ has to do is turn the tv on) and they were playing trains in LJ's room. Some days - they play really well together and some days they antagonize each other.

When I got back from class I went into RJ's office where he recounted the whole story of the morning...

RJ reiterated how nicely the boys had played together...how LJ was getting frustrated with PJ playing trains, so LJ set up a circle of train track for PJ to run his trains on, etc. RJ said that once he got out of bed and walked into the kitchen, he realized why that had been "playing so well together"...we bought RJ a bag of chocolate covered donuts for Valentine's Day and that bag was cleaned out...empty...zero donuts left. There were probably 12-15 donuts in that bag and those kids sat there and ate every last one of them. Hilarious. I can just imagine LJ bossing the whole process and giving PJ just enough to keep him from crying for more and blowing the whole operation.

Recovering from the Weekend

We were out of town over the weekend. A friend's 40th birthday celebration. We had fun and the kids behaved well all weekend. We are such sticklers for routine that I admit I was a bit worried about how the kids would do when not following the normal sequence of events, but we kept it tight and they did great.

One thing I hate about being away for the weekend - all the things I get done over the weekend (laundry and grocery shopping, for example) are still waiting for me when I get back...and I hate having to cram that stuff into the work week.

I learned that I had been committing an exercise blunder - a sin, really - on the treadmill. I had been holding onto the bars. Shhhh...please keep my secret. I knew it was kind of lazy, BUT - I was walking over 4 mph and on an incline, so how lazy is that? I was doing some research on HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and was looking up ideas for a routine on the treadmill. The article I read said, "click here if you are still holding onto the bars on the treadmill" - and then chastised me about it. So....I knocked my speed down to 3.2 mph and ceased to hold on. OMG - talk about getting my heart rate up...I spent the entire workout (walking up 3 hills...with an incline between 2% and 10%) in the upper ranges of my maximum heart rate. According to my monitor - I burned as many calories in 30 minutes as I was burning in 40. I did this on Friday and again yesterday. Today was Body Pump and that is always a challenge, but so rewarding. I have 2 new muscles (biceps and deltoids) to show for my efforts - which is good because I have not lost one single pound in 4 weeks. Which brings me to...

I am mad at my newest ipod app. It uses linear regression to analyze your weight (which you enter everyday) and it'll tell you what your "true weight" is and if you are on a losing trend or gaining trend. It also estimates how many calories extra you consumed or how many you were in deficit. It is just doing a these stats that I could do, but wouldn't. I needed something to entertain me while I am not seeing the scale move. Well, my weight was 2.5 pounds higher yesterday than it was on Friday (I didn't drink much fluid over the weekend and I ate out...so, while I didn't eat HORRIBLY - I did "gain" 2.5 pounds). Yesterday was the last day of data my "weight trend" needed to start analyzing my situation. It shows that I am on a STEEP weight incline trend and that I ate 2950 calories more (per day) than I need to maintain...and that, if I keep it at this rate - I'll gain 25 pounds this month. Of course, I know it just doesn't have enough data to be accurate, but still...talk about rude!