Phasing out the Binky

Late last week, we decided it was time for Annika to be weaned from her Binky habit. That thing is like crack to her at times and it making it difficult for us to always understand what she's saying. Our approach is to start out with the binky only when she's sleeping and then not at all; out timeline is to get this done long before the baby arrives, so she doesn't think he's stealing her binky. On Saturday, we had a few meltdowns that were prompted by us not giving her a binky when it was requested. It really does take a lot of willpower on our part not to give in, but we know it is the right thing to do. Yesterday, we had fewer tears over the binky and found that the promise of a binky made going to bed a bit of a smoother process. During mass yesterday, Annika was more of a handful than normal - very wiggly and there were two occasions that I ushered her out to the outer area until she could pull herself together. Previously, I would have given her a binky and she would have calmed down almost immediately. This is truly a lesson in patience and perseverance for all of us. Fortunately, Annika's day care only gives her a binky at nap time, so I think that will ease our transition at home. Fingers are crossed!

A great time of year

There's something cozy about wearing sweaters, drinking hot beverages, and listening to holiday music. I really love this time of year. Seeing frost on the fallen leaves and feeling the distinct chill in the air tells me that Christmas is quickly approaching.

There has always been a sense of excitement and festivity around Christmas, but having a child who is on the cusp of really understanding the whole thing has renewed my anticipation of Christmas - not just as a season, but the actual day. Of course, it is a spiritual day, but there's also something to behold when a child looks with wonder at a tree decked out with lights and decorations and begins to wonder about Santa and his impending arrival. Annika isn't quite there, but is definitely getting close. We'll get our Christmas tree this weekend and I'm quite excited to have her help us decorate it and become an active participant in our Christmas preparations. She helped me make the shortbread cookies last weekend, but that's not quite the same as decorating the tree and watching our house transform from a home to a home that is ready for Christmas.

Poor Little Girl

On Saturday, Annika woke up from her nap and complained that her ear hurt. Not a good sign. I gave her some ibuprophen to ease the ache. I also put some garlic oil in her ear; the poor thing came unglued when I began to massage the ear to work the oil in a bit lower. REALLY not a good sign. On Sunday, she, again, mentioned her ear, but wasn't acting sick or truly out of sorts. Then Sunday night hit. She was miserable and in pain; the ibuprophen wasn't doing the trick and her nose was much more congested. After a sleepless night and a call from her day care saying she had a fever, it was off to the doctor. She was reluctant to allow the doctor to look in her ears, but eventually decided it would be OK. After that was done, she wanted the doctor to look in her stuffed bunny's ears. (He was diagnosed with an ear infection, as well.)

Two days of antibiotics later, Annika is doing MUCH better. (Bunny only needed extra rest to beat his ear infection - no meds required. Whew!) We are grateful that she could be seen so quickly and receive the care that she needed.... not to mention, get the right medication that is doing its job in a timely manner.

Our Thanksgiving

The Olson Trio spent Thanksgiving with Eric's parents on Whidbey Island this year. It was a very relaxed holiday filled card games, more food than we could shake a stick at, and lots of fun conversations. Annika had a great time trying to get the new cat in the family (a Maine Coon named Gabe, who my in-laws rescued from a shelter in MT in October). Every time Annika saw Gabe, she insisted on pointing him out and calling to him. "Kitty! Come on go. Kitty. Come." Gabe had no intention of heading her direction and mostly hid on the bookshelves in my in-laws den snoozing and hiding from a 2-year-old who would probably try to love him a bit more than he wanted.

My mom-in-law and I decided we needed rolls to accompany our Thanksgiving dinner. One run to the neighbor's house for Crisco and one run to the store for yeast later, we had the rolls going in the bread machine. It was more of an adventure than we expected, but the rolls did turn out quite nicely. Gotta love Aunt Sally's roll recipe!!

We played numerous rounds of Quiddler and 5 Crowns, both fun card games that our family seems to be quite addicted to. We definitely had a lucky chair and I got booted from it after winning one of the first games.... my victories quickly came to a halt after Eric overtook my seat. Darn him!

A big thank you to the Whidbey Olsons for a wonderful Thanksgiving. (Thanks, too, to their neighbor for the Crisco!)

Soccer Player On Board!

I'm quite convinced that our little guy is going to be a soccer player (or possibly the first male Rockette)! Over the past few days, he has been going crazy kicking the holy heck out of my insides. Last week, his movements were cute little flutters. This week, I can feel his kicks with my hand when I rest it on my belly. He's getting strong!! According to my iPhone app, he's supposed to break the 1 pound mark this week and 8 inches in length. I'm amazed by how fast he's growing! During my ultrasound last week, he (once again) had his head scrunched into me; I think he just might prove to be a cuddily baby ... only time will tell!

Annika Reading

Annika reading Goodnight, Gorilla to herself in the car.

The REAL pronunciation

Apparently, I've been saying the word "manatee" wrong all these years. Annika found a stuffed animal (manatee) that I got at Sea World 8 years ago. I asked her if she knew what it was - her blank stare told me "no." I said that it was a manatee. She replied, "mangahbadee." SO much cuter than how I've been saying it all this time. I think she's on to something. :)