Happy Birthday/Mother's Day/No-Bottle Day

What another fabulous weekend!!!

The boys had a wonderful birthday, in spite of the fact that I barely planned anything!

They had fun blowing out their candles in their ice cream and I even gave them seconds when they asked for it.

Dean ate his so fast, I barely had time to get the camera out before he was finished. He even ate the candle too. Can wax poison small children? I guess we'll find out.

Cary also ate his candle. My children either have PICA or they're just weird.

 Later on that night, Lester gave me a pre-Mother's Day gift to die for: He BAKED for me! My friend Angel, seeing my love for Morton's LEGENDARY HOT CHOCOLATE CAKE!, sent me a recipe for molten chocolate lava cake (or something like that). Lester tried his hand at it, and it was delicious!!! I ate two of them, hot out the oven, with ice cream on the side, and swooned from happiness. Thanks, Angel! Thanks, Lester!!!

On Sunday, Mother's Day, all three of my boys fixed me breakfast (pancakes, fried cinnamon apples, sausage and coffee) and then gave me beautiful cards and gifts.

They also sent a Mother's Day message to all the Moms in their lives. (Well, Dean did most of the messaging. Cary was too busy "READING!")

Later, my mom, Dad, my Aunt Fern (Mom's sister) and my Uncle Buddy and Aunt Pam (Mom's brother and sis-in-law) came to Baltimore to have brunch at the Rusty Scupper, overlooking the Inner Harbor. So they stopped by our house afterward. I loved having them over, and so did the boys. And Clair didn't get put down the entire time they were there, so she was in Heaven.

Aunt Pam, Auntie Fern, me and Mom. Happy Mother's Day to us!

It was a wonderful, wonderful, family-filled weekend. I was really very much at peace and feeling loved and blessed, and not stressed, all weekend long. That is a beautiful thing. Happy Mother's Day to me!


AND!!!

As planned, we sent the boys to bed last night without a bottle for the first time in their lives! Following my weekly weaning plan, they had already gotten down to only 2 oz. each, so I figured they might not miss it. Boy was I wrong! There was considerable crying from both boys -- but the hysterics came mostly from Cary. Deanie seemed to understand much more when we explained that only babies have bottles and they were big boys now. But Cary (as usual) didn't really care what we said. He flipped around in his crib and screamed bloody murder. He wailed and moaned like someone had died. He refused to sleep, refused his lovey, refused his blanket, refused comforting. He was really putting on the performance of a lifetime.

I was feeling very determined as a mother to cross this bridge, but I was also feeling quite sad for him. It's Mother's Day! And I'm torturing my child. Also, I had to bathe Clair and put her to sleep. And also Mad Men was coming on in an hour or so! I needed this child to sleep!!

So after 45 minutes and several times of me going in to comfort him and reason with him, finally Lester went in and firmly told him enough was enough and it was time to go. to. sleep!

And you know what? He did. Just like that. Not a whimper out of him for the rest of the night.


Yes, it was Mother's Day, and yes I am a darn good Mom, 95-percent of the time. But I've said it before and I'll say it again: Thank the good LORD for fathers. :-)

(Note: One night bottle-free down. The rest of their lives to go. Pray for us!)

(P.S. This is my LAST WEEK of maternity leave. Waaaaaaaah! :-( )

Boys survive 1st Dentist's Appointment!

Cary and Dean had their first ever dentist's appointment today.

I thought this was sooo cute, on the door of the dentist's office when we walked in. But a friend points out that it might just be a HIPAA violation. Whoops! I still think it's cute.

The status report: No cavities!!! But plenty of tears.

Thank God Lester and I both went to this appointment, because we needed all four hands on deck to keep the boys calm enough for the dentist to poke around in their mouths, count their teeth, check for cavities and paint on some flouride. (Note: The whole appointment took about 8 minutes. Which would have been great, if our waiting room time hadn't been over an HOUR.)

P.S. Cary has 16 teeth (right on schedule), and Dean has 12, with 4 cutting through, which might explain his crankiness and clinginess. Actually, he's just cranky and clingy. Who am I kidding?

The boys actually did better than I thought with the dental exam -- and they probably would have done even better, if it hadn't been for the fact that the office was backed up, so we had to wait, as I noted, more than an hour in the waiting room. So by the time our name was finally called, the boys were a little tired, needing a snack, and completely opposed to leaving behind the treasure chest of books, blocks and other amazingly fun things for them to do.

My babies thought they were big boys, "playing" video games! But their favorite thing in the waiting room was a pretend kitchen, which kept them enthralled. I know what THEY'RE getting for their birthday!

The crying ensued before we even made it to the dentist's chair, and scaled up as we got to the clinical part of the office, so needless to say I wasn't able to get any lovely photos of them with wide, protesting mouths and crocodile tears. Sigh. My photojournalism skills fail miserably in the face of twin temper tantrums.

Next time, hopefully they'll see us sooner, so the boys don't get the idea that the dentist's office is really a big playroom. I want them to get it that we go there so the doctor can check their teeth, not so that they can pretend to make food in the little play kitchen for an hour. (Am I asking too much too soon?)

The dentist was very happy with the boys' teeth, and the fact that they are pretty much juice-and-soda free. He did (kindly) stress to us the importance of getting them off the bottle at night, and when I told him I was already on it, reducing their milk by an ounce a week until their birthday, he wasn't impressed. He said I need to make sure the last thing in their mouths at bedtime is their toothbrush and toothpaste, not milk. So unless I'm brushing their teeth after they have their bottle (which I'm not; we brush during bathtime) then I'm not doing the boys' teeth any favors.

I considered what he said very seriously, but I honestly think at this point I'm just going to stick with the plan to wean them over the next few weeks. They will be 2 on May 11, and either that week or the very next week, they will have their last nighttime bottle. (God-willing and the creek don't rise.)

I think my sweet little baby boys need the full month to transition out of that bedtime ritual.

And I know I do. :-(

Note: Next dentist's appointment is in 6 months, and I'll have to pull them out of SCHOOL to take them! Egads!! Time is FLYING. I can't stand it! Seriously, stop this train!