Some Lily Updates

I realized that there are several things that I have not followed-up with in regard to Lily. So I'll do it now.

Several months ago, we did away with pacifiers. It was truly a heartbreaking afternoon. We were dreading the days (and especially nights) to come. But lo and behold, she hardly mentioned them again. The first couple of nights, she asked about them. In response, we would chuckle and say that we don't use pacifiers anymore. Big girls don't use pacifiers, that would be silly. She looked at us in a way that only Deetzes can but surprisingly accepted our answer. She has encountered pacifiers several times since and shows absolutely no interest in them. It just goes to show that we frequently underestimate children's abilities to change and adapt.

In regard to sleeping, Lily still goes to sleep in her bed every night. However, she usually wakes up one time each night (usually in the early morning) at which time I comfort her and she goes back to sleep immediately. Unfortunately, because I fall asleep so easily, I often fall asleep in her bed during our comfort session. I need to work on comforting without laying down next to her so that I can go back into my own bed. Maybe someday she will be able to self-soothe, but this girl has been through a lot lately so I am happy to continue comforting in the wee hours of the morning for a while.

Napping was addressed in the same post last month. Naps continue to be a struggle and, more and more, going to bed for the night is a struggle as well. One day, I attempted to lay down with her for a nap, and it was just a mess. I knew there was no way that she was going to lay down and go to sleep. So, I started up the car, and we took a little drive down the street. No exaggeration - the girl was asleep within 60 seconds. I knew that the car is fail-proof for putting her to sleep when she's tired, so I used it as my test. It answered my own question as to whether she was outgrowing naptime (meaning not needing it) or just resisting it with every fiber of her being and desperately needing it. On that particular day, Lily slept over 2 hours after I brought her back home and put her in bed. Clearly, she still needs a nap. We are still working on this, and I think that a lot of it has to do with all the recent changes and the lack of scheduled routine that typically occurs at school. Maybe this issue will resolve itself once I'm back to working and Lily goes back to school.

Speaking of school, Lily is enrolled for school that begins August 4th. I'm a little too excited about the school. Carl and I toured several schools, and this one just stood out above the rest. Everything from the snacks and lunches like freshly prepared bell-pepper omelets and zucchini muffins, to the school's pet dog, Rufus, to the great ratios of teachers to children, to the intimate setting, to the children's involvement and say in every classroom and school decision...I could go on and on. I LOVE this place. But there is one very big caveat - the children have to be potty-trained. Which brings us to our next topic.

As stated before, Lily woke up one morning last month and decided that she was done with diapers. She didn't look back - full speed ahead. I think that Carl and I were really caught off-guard with this and may have really screwed up. We would insist that Lily wear diapers during naps and bedtime which she really resisted at first. Now she sometimes requests diapers at different times during the day, I think because its just easier, especially if she needs to have a BM. She has great control and will go to the bathroom on her own when she needs to go. In fact, she often forbids to come in the bathroom, as Miss Independent wants to do it all by herself (a very common theme these days). But, for some reason, she has back-tracked some even though she definitely can do it. Our plan now is to get rid of all diapers and only put on pull-ups at night. We are playing hardball, but our bluff will be quickly called if we see any signs of her holding in BMs or noticing any physical hardships from this. I'm not sure what we will do at that point. I'm trying not to show my desperation for this to happen so that she can go to the school that I think will be a good fit for her in just under a month from now.

No real updates on eating. Lily's diet has become more balanced. By that I mean healthy stuff with some less-than-healthy stuff :) As long as she is still getting some fruit, veggies, protein, and whole grains in every day, I'm okay with the her proclivity for lollipops and gummies.

The topic of Lily's behavior is a separate post, so that's the full update on everything else!