So Long, Farewell

Calleigh's binky free!  I'm so glad I can type those words.  It was a bit of a battle but the battle was won.  The first night (Friday) she up until 12:10 am.  She asked for it many times but in the last hour, she was quiet in her room while I just laid there on the futon and she finally drifted off.  At about 3:45 in the morning, I awakened to sounds coming out of her room.  It sounded like she was talking or something.  I went in there expecting to see her wide awake and crying for her binky.  But no, she was lying there with her eyes closed and appeared to be asleep but then I heard her say, "I want a binky."  Apparently she was talking in her sleep.  I went back to my room and heard her mumbling for the next 20 or 30 minutes but she never woke up.  The next challenge was her nap on Sabbath.  As soon as I left her room, she started bawling and did that for almost 30 minutes.  I was trying to take a nap myself but I felt so bad I told her she could come and sleep with me.  Of course, she didn't really want to sleep and by the time she did settle in after a good hour (thanks to Duncan patting her head), my deodorant had bitten the dust and I think she had rummaged through my entire toiletry cabinet. I was too tired to care.  Saturday night, I told Duncan he was on duty.  By this time, I was exhausted (I'm blaming it on the pregnancy because it's not unusual for me to be up until at least 11:30 but for some reason, I was really tired after Friday night and the short nap Sabbath).  There was more crying going on and declarations that she was still a baby but again, she finally settled in close to midnight after some more head patting by Duncan.

Sunday nap wasn't an issue because we were at Busch Gardens and things were all wacky.  So the next test was Sunday night.  And she didn't say a word about the binky!  Again, she was up until at least 11:30 though.  Normally she does stay up until 10:00 - 10:30 so it's not way later then usual but it's still definitely later.  We're not sure on the meaning of this.  Perhaps that sucking helps you fall asleep and without it, it just takes longer.  Yesterday there was no mention of the binky during nap or nighttime but it was still a late night again.  I think she's officially kicked the habit but I'll be curious as to the overall impact on her falling asleep at night.  I would say the whole process went a little better than I anticipated.  I never felt like I was going to give in or anything but I did feel really bad at just one point.  About a week ago, in a kind of joking manner, she told me she didn't need binkies any more and she wanted to throw them away.  So I had put her basket of binkies in her trash can where, of course, some time later I retrieved them out when she said she wanted one.  I don't know that she ever saw me actually remove the whole basket of them.  Anyway, sometime on Sabbath she told me quite seriously, "Mom, I wish I had never thrown those binkies away in the trash a few days ago."  I felt so bad.  It was almost like she thought she had done this to herself.

But on to other news...after a nice day at church/Sabbath School and a subpar nap, we were off to the mall and Crane's Roost for the Christmas festivities happening over there.  The mall stop was to get Calleigh her reward for the binky which we had talked up incessantly.  On the way there, we heard a commercial for Light Up UCF and they talked about how they were showing a "Veggie Tales" double feature on the little outdoor movie theater.  We were a little bummed to hear that since Calleigh would have loved it!  Nonetheless, it was on to the mall where we met Ron and Elaine at the food court for some supper.  Then it was on to Crane's Roost.  We weren't sure what time the fireworks were but weren't overly concerned about missing them since Calleigh was freaked out last year.  As it turned out, as we exited the mall, we saw the last 30 seconds of them and both girls got scared.  So I guess that worked out.  For the record, the fireworks must have started around 6:30 (in case I don't know the time next year and check back here to see).  We walked down around the boardwalk to see the lights, the booths, and some dancing and singing.  We met up with David and Yully and then eventually, the Isidro's.  Calleigh and Braelyn were quite excited to see other, you could say.  They immediately started holding hands, jumping around, and shouting only as little girls can do.

I interrupt this post to talk about Calleigh up in her room. She just called me up because she said she had to go potty.  I knew it was all a scheme and sure enough, she got on the toilet and it was silent.  I told her I knew she didn't actually have to go and she said "Well, it may take many whiles."  I've left her and now I hear  hersaying "binky, binky" over and over again.  I think she just gets bored or something up there.  Last night at like 11:00 when I went up there (because she kept calling me), I discovered her with her hands and arms covered in hand sanitizer and ink marks all over her arms.  I suppose after you're in your room for a few hours, you run out of things to do.

Sunday morning we did First Watch with Ron and Elaine and then just the four of us Grodacks headed down to Busch Gardens.  The Gregorys were swamped with things to do so they couldn't join us.  We thought it might rain but the day ended up being perfect - - about 70 and sunny.  The park had Christmas music playing on the loud speakers all over the park and you could really feel the Christmas spirit.  One of the first stops was an ice skating show and Calleigh was absolutely enthralled especially when a girl of about 10 performed.  After that, Calleigh said to us "When I get bigger, I want to ice skate."  I told her Papa could take her ice skating when we're up for Christmas.  Of course, she'll probably be a little disappointed when she realizes it's not something you can just do.  The next stop was another Christmas show that involved Santa and some singers and dancing.  At one point, the lady dancers came down onto the floor to dance with the kids and Calleigh was off like a bullet to join in.  She got a big kick out of that.  We (or should I say, Duncan and Calleigh), went on a bunch of rides including the Air Grover roller coaster which they did three times.  The crowd was great and we never had to wait long for anything.  In the past, I've brought lunch with us but I didn't feel like it this time and we ended up eating at a place where it was all you can eat pizza, pasta, dessert and soda for $10/adults and $6/kids.  Aubree was free.  I thought that was an awesome deal especially for a theme park and we thought it was very worthy.  Our final stop was the Sesame Street show at 3:45.  Because of the small crowd, we got on the front row and Calleigh was suitably thrilled when she got to touch Abby and the other characters several times.  Calleigh was very reluctant to leave (cue the tears) but finally at 4:30, we loaded up for home.  They were both asleep in minutes and I had to wake them up after awhile for the fear they would never go to sleep that night since it was so late.

Studying the map.

This lady played the violin while we waited for the ice skating show to start.  It was such beautiful Christmas music.

During one show, they had all the kids come up onto the  stage.  Can you spot Calleigh?  

I love how Calleigh put up her arms on this little kiddie log ride!  That was completely unprompted.

I tried to get a nice picture when we were leaving but should have guessed it wouldn't come out.

Yesterday, the four of us had a date at my doctor's office for the 12-week ultrasound.  You're always apprehensive but I was greatly relieved to see the little beating heart (at 162 beats) within seconds of her putting the tool on my belly.  Everything looked really great and afterwards I got some blood work to test for Downs and other things.  I also saw the doctor and heard the heartbeat which, after the ultrasound, is fairly anticlimactic but still nice to hear.  The doctor herself just had her fourth child (she says people always comment on that's it's too much to have that many!) with three girls and a boy.  I told her about my terrible morning sickness and she said "Oh, I think it may be another girl then.  My morning sickness was so much worse with my girls then with my boy."  We'll find out January 26.  I hit 20 weeks exactly on my birthday and I already made the appointment for the ultrasound for that day even though I have another appointment before then (I wanted to make sure I could get in on that day).

This morning we were back at JCPenney for round two of pictures but this time with just the two girls.  We were a little rushed as the appointment was at 9:20 but we made it.  As I had hoped, we were the only ones there and for whatever reason, Aubree did a complete 180.  She was happy and smiley and fully cooperated.  I can't say that we got any pictures that I absolutely loved but there was some pretty good ones so I guess I'm satisfied.

Making Christmas cookies.

In closing, we do have some sad news.  Duncan has noticed that Marlee doesn't seem to be at her best.  As a reminder, the last thing that happened with her like five or six weeks ago is that they did some blood work and said they couldn't find anything but the vet recommended we get some other kind of blood work done.  We decided to just let things ride.  Well, the riding is over and Duncan took her in today so he could personally talk to the doctor.  The doc said that she didn't look too good (her middle seems to have gotten unnaturally bigger) and that he thought she probably had cancer.  He did some other blood work and now we have to wait until next week for the results.  She's still eating and begging for food but he said that's not uncommon.  I guess we just wait and see.