No More Bink

We have decided to finally wean Norah off the pacifier, I read the Babywise books and they recommend taking the pacifier away at 6 months, but Norah started the pacifier at 6 months, she hated it as a newborn. I have known from the start that the pacifier can be a huge problem if you make it something they are obsessed with and have to have, Norah has never had to have it, but she has definitely gotten attached to it over the last months. I know the earlier you get rid of it the easier, so we feel the last few months she just uses it because it soothes her and she likes it, not out of a necessity to calm her down or anything. She only gets it if she is in bed or in the car or stroller, but otherwise we don't give it to her. So I have decided to slowly take it away from her. Last night I didn't let her have it when she laid down for bed and she normally puts herself to sleep no problem once I lay her down. Without the bink last night it took her just a little longer to fall asleep, maybe an extra 10 minutes with a little crying, it only confirmed though it was definitely time for it to go, she hasn't cried herself to sleep like that in months and she seemed to have a little harder time falling asleep without the bink. For the most part when its not around she doesn't need it, its only when she sees it or we give it to her that she enjoys it, so I really think she's getting to the age now where its just something she enjoys that will only become harder to take away as she gets older. I have decided to try the cold turkey method so we will see how the next few days go.

Other News

Since we moved into our rental over a year ago I have been determined to make it nice, I love enjoying the outside and so I wanted to be able to enjoy our backyard. I planted wildflowers to left in the picture below and they went crazy! I was so thrilled because I pretty much just threw them in the ground in February, hoping they would do great. I also recently purchased an outdoor table and chairs at a garage sale for $100, which was a screaming deal considering many similar to it were close to $500!!! I painted it yellow, it was a boring black before, and it turned out amazing! I also purchased two outdoor chairs on craigslist, one was a cute white wicker chair for $20 and the other was a papasan chair for $30!! I just love having lunch or dinner on our back patio now!

We have also been enjoying, as a family, walking at a lake/day use area in the mornings, Norah just loves watching the ducks and geese and playing on the playground!

Norah recently went to her first swim lesson, she hasn't started her ISR yet, that will begin in July, but at our local gym they had a one time class where you could get in the water with your baby and do several different exercise to get your child used to being in the water, it was so much fun and Norah had a blast!

Norah now knows how to climb up on everything, she climbs on any chair or couch she can. We are now teaching her to sit when she gets up and she is doing better.

Norah has loved my recent garage sale find for $5!!!

I just enjoyed my dad's 9 months of hard work this morning, a dozen of fresh backyard Organic eggs! My dad built a beautiful chicken coop in his backyard about 9 months ago and got himself 6 chicks, they just started laying eggs in the last month or so and they are beautiful and yummy!  Good job dad!!

ISR Swimming Lessons for Norah

Our family recently had a big scare, my cousin's 2 1/2 year old daughter almost drowned last week at their club pool. She was only out of sight for a minute or so. They found her in the bottom of the pool and had to give her CPR and she was admitted to the hospital overnight, Praise God she is alive and well, keep them in your prayers during this difficult time. 

I am sharing this story with you because of this happening so close to home for our family it really woke me up. I did some research and learned about Infant Self Rescue or ISR. I have been told about teaching infants to back float if they were ever to fall in the water for awhile now, but haven't taken it seriously enough. Now I'm not waiting any longer. If they are under 2 years old Norah's instructor said they can just teach them back floating if you want, but if they are older than 2 they can go ahead and teach them the full ISR, Infant self rescue swim class, which teaches them to swim, float, swim. I did some research and their is a certified instructor moving to our area in July and she will be teaching out of her home, she will be Norah's instructor. She sent me a fact sheet about drowning and I was amazed by the statistics, 58% of people don't think it will happen to them, but it's the leading cause of death for children under 4 years old and 70% of drownings occur while in the care of one or both parents. I don't bring this attention to scare you I just want to bring it to your attention so if one baby's life is saved, then its all worth it. I know I never thought it would happen to me, but after what happen to our family I can't say or think that anymore so its now my job to be prepared and spread the word about the reality of drowning in children under 4. You can go to the ISR website here and you can enter your zip code to see if their is a certified instructor in your area teaching this course. It is a little pricey compared to regular swim classes through the city, gym, etc., but it is totally worth it because it is a course like no other, it doesn't just get your baby used to water, it saves your baby's life if they were ever in a situation that they fell in when no one saw. You can look up videos on YouTube, they have tons to show u how it works. I just looked up "back floating." 
It is $105 to register and $85 a week, its 5 days a week and the lessons are 10 minutes (Norah's Instructor said any longer and they get burned out). Teaching a child to back float usually takes only about 3-4 weeks, if teaching ISR, its 6 weeks. 
I also encourage you to take a CPR class if you haven't already, CPR saved my cousin's daughter's life. You can find where your local CPR classes are taught here.