Misc. Ramblings ...

So, on the pacifier front, we have made a lot of progress - in more than just one way!
Little man is mostly doing really well with out frankly! And if he was melting down and just miserable without, I'd would just hand it over and try again in 6 months. I know in the grand scheme of things it's not a big deal. On the other hand, I have a four year old who sucks her thumb. A lot. And I admit I'm a bit nervous to have another child that complete strangers feel they must give me advice on how to "fix." So my point is, although I want to encourage no pacifiers, I don't want to push hard to not have them either. So, he's actually been doing really well not having it for most of the day.
Now, the other day I told him if he wanted it, he could have it when he went night-night. Now, some background: my son has never been a good napper. He doesn't nap often ... maybe a few times a week, and usually only if he falls asleep in the car. The last few days, around 1:00 he walks up to me with his blanket in hand and asks me for his pacifier. So, I ask him "Do you want to go night-night." He shakes his head yes, he takes his pacifier from me and I take him to his room. On the way he says bye-bye to all things he loves (mostly I hear bye-bye train, bye-bye bus, bye-bye car). And the boy goes into his crib. Most days he has actually slept. For like 2 hours. This may not be a big deal for most mothers of 1 year olds, but this is amazing for him. The one day he did not sleep - he just stayed in there and talked to himself and played with his pillow, blanket, and musical thing. Wow! No really, all I can say is WOW! This is just fabulous. I can actually have time during normal hours to do what I would like to do! Okay, so mostly we have used the time to clean and do school, but still. In theory I could read, knit, sew, blog, etc.
The really beautiful part of it all - he stills goes to bed at night. And he hasn't started waking up earlier than normal. And in the evening, he is generally much more content and less crabby. I will say around 7 or 8 he requests his pacifier and we usually give it to him, even though it's a good 2 hours until he goes to bed. I'm not too worried about him using it that time of night!
Really, I could get used to this. It is 100% and completely fabulous.

Despite all this napping that has been going on in this house, I accomplished very little of what I wanted to this past week. Really, it is my husbands fault. He was home pretty much to sleep only for the entire week. As I type he is still out this evening. Trust me, I appreciate all his hard work because it's why I get to stay home. But weeks like this stress me and just exhaust me. And it leaves me trying to juggle a few more balls in the air since dh really does help around the house when he is home a lot. I suppose there's a mental part there - in that it just feels like there is so much more to do when he is missing, but the truth was, I was also busy a lot last week too! We were at the chiro's office three times (only 3 more weeks to go on that), I had an MRI, babysat other children, did some visiting (which was really fun but kept me out of the house), had some activities for the kids - in short, there was a lot of life going on last week. Seeing as I am really content to not be out and about all the time, weeks with lots of life tend to stress me out as well.
Ah well -this next week, although it will be on the busy side, should be less hectic than last week. And my to-do list is a mile and a half long and I would like to start crossing some of those things off!