Farewell Nuk-Dog

I've read that parents sometimes attempt to choose a "lovey" for their infants. They buy something special and put it in the crib (as soon as it's safe to have toys in the crib). Sometimes they buy back ups just in case one gets lost and a bed-time meltdown is imminent. We did not plan on having Nuk-Dog in our lives. He wouldn't have been my first choice of lovey for Indigo. 


Nuk-Dog entered our lives as a hand-me-down from my friend Emily. Her son had used it as an infant. He's one of those "wub-a-nubs" that you can place on an infant's chest while they are sleeping so the nuk stays in their mouths. I can't quite remember how old she was, but she was toddling around her room and peeked in the bag from Emily, pulled out Nuk-Dog, popped him in her mouth and there he stayed until about a week ago. 

He got lots of comments, our Nuk-Dog. He was practically part of the family. In my pre-paranting plans, I never included a nuk past 18 months. No way. I didn't want to screw up her teeth and I didn't think toddlers needed a nuk anymore. But he made her so happy. And it was kind of cute. And she would give him up when asked. She played with him. He was her friend. And yes, we bought back ups. What started as one free hand me down turned into a total of 6, I think. 

I tried to wean her from him. I thought she might like the "dog" part of him without the "nuk" part. One of them had a split in the nipple, which she didn't care about but kind of defeated the purpose. So I cut it off so he basically became a beanie baby. WELL, in her eyes, I had basically decapitated him. She was actually scared of the deformed dog. She threw him away and when I gave him back, she turned him around, looking for the "rest" of him. Needless to say, he went into the closet. 

Auntie Leigh and family were helpful in weaning her. Nuk-Dog just didn't get used at Auntie's house. And she was fine with that. But we were too soft and he was too cute. Until last week....

She had lost him in the night and Daddy couldn't find him in the morning. So he just said, Nuk-Dog's gone. And she was ok with that. I found him later and put him away for good.  

Mommy is sad. It means my baby is growing up and no longer needs her first friend. But I'm glad it wasn't a battle to give him up, and it was definitely time. I just couldn't bring myself to take him away so it all worked out in the end, I suppose. 

We had a great weekend at home, full of little moments and fun times. We just love her so much. She is such a joy to have in our lives. We are so blessed. 

Life Just Gets Busy

I mean to blog more often, I really do. I read the blogs that get update daily or even a few times a week but life just gets in the way. I guess that's a good thing, that I do try to take in the moments as much as possible. It just all goes by so quickly. David worked a dance show this weekend and wasn't around Indigo for two days and he swears she got older and is talking more!

David turned 40 in May. I managed to pull off a fun surprise party. My sister-in-law Erin made fabulous decorations and my aunt and some friends helped with the food. Everyone had a great time and he was TOTALLY shocked. The next weekend, we took a little road trip and saw Canyon De Chelly in NE Arizona. It was beautiful and Indigo was a great companion. She's not a very good roommate, though. She won't go to sleep if we are still awake watching TV. So unless we get a suite or leave the room until she goes to sleep, we are stuck on her schedule. But since I am a cheapskate when booking hotel rooms, and leaving the room for a drink at the bar seems slightly unsafe, we just take advantage of the extra sleeping hours. 

She loves singing in the car. Her favorite song right now is "Me Party" from the latest Muppet movie. She also likes "Mahna Mahna" and we have to wait for a certain part where we dance. It's silly but super cute. She still asks for "Call Me Maybe" and I think of Auntie Erin every time because she was with us last year when Indigo started singing it. 

Potty training is still a work in progress. She'll be really good and then the next day pee her pants 3 times. So we're still working on it. She's doing well at daycare. No more biting. She likes her teachers and she is learning her letters and numbers. I want to work a little more on them with her but it is hard to steer a toddler where you need them to go. She does like the lacing beads I bought her. She makes us necklaces all the time now. She also likes to read now. I read "Go Dog Go" and then she reads it back to me. It's amazing what she remembers. 

We've managed to see 3 movies recently and they were all good. Iron Man 3 was amazing! The new Star Trek was great and we saw Fast and the Furious, which is just silly fun. Waiting on a few more this summer and into the fall. It's just hard to work it all out to see very many and makes going something a little special. 

See why I don't write much? My life is pretty boring. Just family, work and coaching. But it's a wonderful life and I love it! How could I not, right? 

David worked a ballet today and I brought Indigo. She was mesmerized by "Peter and the Wolf" and then spent the next 20 minutes twirling. We may have a dancer on our hands!