The Good and The Bad

We have been going through some major changes at home with the kids.

We took Briar’s pacifier away.

There was really no reason other than we were over it and we just didn’t want her to have it any longer. She wasn’t really reliant on it except for nap time and bed time. We said we were going to take it away after Derby, and we actually did it. I kind of decided for us that if we were going to do it, we were going to do it cold turkey.

I knew she was perfectly capable of sleeping without it. I was just scared she was going to wake up in the middle of the night and I was going to be tired and I was going to give in and give it to her.

On Monday, May 8th, we took it away. The first night was the worst, but it still wasn’t terrible. We honestly didn’t really have a good bedtime routine, so, I’m trying to implement one. I tried to get her to wind down about 15 minutes before bed. We sat in the recliner and read some books. When it’s bedtime, on the way to the room, I always sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, and then lay her down.

Well, this time, she lost her shit, as I expected, because she didn’t have her pacifier.

She cried for 30 minutes straight until I finally went in there. She was sitting up screaming, but I could tell she was so tired. I laid her back down, sang to her a little bit and she finally calmed down…until I walked out of the room and then she lost it again. She cried for another 20-30 minutes until she drifted off to sleep. Now…if she could just make it all night…

I didn’t have high hopes. I felt like I held my breath all night just waiting for her to wake up. She did wake up once around 11pm. I was so scared. I thought she would be up crying all night, but she didn’t. She fussed for maybe 5 minutes and then she went back to sleep.

I felt like I tossed and turned all night just waiting on her to wake up again. She woke up around 6am for the day which is much earlier than normal, but all in all, it wasn’t a terrible night.

I was also nervous about her nap at daycare with no pacifer.

I told daycare the night before that we were taking it away and if it was a successful night, I’d like for her to not give her the pacifier. Since we made it through the night, I let daycare know not to give her the pacifier.

I text her that afternoon after I knew she would be waking up and she said she only cried for a couple of minutes before she went to sleep and she took a good nap! I was so happy. I did not think she was going to take a good nap today…then I thought, well, what if she was just tired from last night since she was a little restless, went to bed later than usual, and woke up earlier than normal? I wasn’t sure if it was a fluke or not….on to Day 2…

Tuesday night she maybe cried for 20 minutes before she fell asleep. She woke up once around 2:30am, but it was just like the previous day and she fussed herself back to sleep. I don’t even know if she was awake for more than 2 minutes. And we actually had to wake her up the next morning around 6:45! Yay! Daycare said she also took a good nap.

Wednesday night, I don’t even think she cried at all when I laid her down. We have still been keeping the same bedtime routine. AND she didn’t wake up all night long! And I had to wake her up again for the day!! YESSS!! I was so happy!!

teething

I might not have picked the best time to take her pacifier away because she is actually getting more teeth.

She has only had her 2 bottom teeth since she was 9 months old. I was super surprised that she even got teeth that early because Raelynn didn’t get her first tooth until she was 15 months old. In the past couple of weeks, she has been pretty fussy and constantly shoving her hand in her mouth.

I decided to stick my finger in there and feel around and she had her top two molar’s on either side! Who knows how long those have been in there. Just this week, she finally had one of her front teeth break the skin, and there are going to be a couple more to follow soon.

Now onto the not so good.

I would assume Raelynn is just going through a phase, but shit, her attitude is killing me.

She’s always been a GREAT sleeper. Dare I say, almost too good…because, in the morning, it’s like HELL getting her up. She says she is tired and doesn’t want to get up and literally goes into full on tantrum mode. Screaming and crying to the point that she can’t breathe, all because she is tired and doesn’t want to wake up.

Sometimes, it the same thing at night before bed because she claims she isn’t tired and doesn’t want to go to sleep. Yet, I always remind her how she acts like a crazy person in the morning and throws a fit because she is tired and doesn’t want to wake up.

Raelynn has always been a picky eater. She’s never really ate great, or a lot, unless she is going through a growth spurt. It is literally like pulling teeth to get her to eat.

I made the decision a long time ago, that I was only going to make her one thing for dinner, and if she doesn’t eat it, then she doesn’t eat for the night. But, I leave her plate on the table, so if she decides she wants to eat, then she can go back to the table and eat whatever I made her for the night. She likes to tell me what she wants to eat, and then say she doesn’t like it or doesn’t want it. It goes right through me. I get so angry because I know she is hungry.

Last night, she waited until 20 minutes before she went to bed to eat. Then I didn’t let her eat that much because I wanted her food to settle so she didn’t have a stomach ache.

And OMG…this girl does not listen for shit.

Scott and I will tell her things 2, 3, 4, 10 times and she will boldly look at us right in the eye and then do the complete opposite.

Last night at soccer she had an EPIC meltdown.

First, someone stepped on her toe that already had a boo-boo on it and reopened it up.

Then her grandma split a cook in half so her and Briar could share and Raelynn didn’t want her to.

And that was all she wrote.

I thought at any minute Raelynn’s head was going to start spinning in circles. She was screaming, raising her voice, yelling. I was like, we have got to get home before someone calls CPS on me because I was going to wear her ass out for acting like that.

People kept trying to calm her down and I could just tell it wasn’t going to work. It took a good 30 minutes for her to calm down once when finally got home. All over a fucking cookie. Jesus.

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It’s just a combination of all of the above that makes me crazy with Raelynn. She is already just so freaking sassy and has a major attitude and she loves to push things to the absolute limit. Then, when we have to get on her, she basically loses her shit. I don’t even know if this is a phase or if she will be like this for the rest of her life…haha, I hope not.

I’m hoping for a nice, peaceful weekend. Scott has been out of town the majority of this week so it’s just been a little stressful.

This weekend is Mother’s Day and we actually have zero plans which makes me so happy. And it’s supposed to be nice and hot, so hopefully it’s the first pool day of the season!

Have a great weekend and Happy Mother’s day to all the mom’s out there!

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