Casey is doing well. A week ago she turned 3 1/2 and we had a big build up to that day because we told her she could no longer have a pacifier. If any parents out there are worried about how their child will give up the paci, take heart. Casey was as attached to that thing as any kid could be and we waited a long time to make her get rid of it. I was dreading weeks of bad nights and break downs but she has shocked me and been much better than we could have hoped for. She has whimpered for it a little and really would like it when she is exhausted but she is managing well. She has quit napping entirely in the last two weeks. It is disappointing for me because I really look forward to a little break in the day and the chance to get some things done. Usually she will still go in her room and have some quiet time. But the lack of naps mean that she is breaking down around dinner time and with no paci to calm her nerves she sometimes gets very upset. She used to stay up until about 7:45pm. Now that she is not napping she is in bed around 7pm and asleep quickly.
Julia has given up her morning nap finally but still loves her afternoon one. She now goes to bed the latest around 7:30pm. The other night I was awakened around 12:30am by the sound of her crying in the next room. I went in there and found her completely naked, she had taken off her sleep sack, pjs and diaper. She was crying because she was so cold. Hopefully she will have learned her lesson on that trick. She has only one more tooth to come in which I am expecting any day. She is talking more and more every day. She knows the words to songs and books and surprises me with her memory. She was healthy at her check up, still skinny at around the 12th percentile. Casey and Julia seem to play together better and better as the days go by. Whenever I am trying to get something done in the house, if it is too quiet I know I am in for trouble. This morning that happened and Julia was using scissors by herself and Casey had found the stash of Halloween candy I had hidden. But besides getting up to no good occasionally, it is really nice to see them interacting and getting along better. They are both very good with Molly. Julia always says, "Molly's nice" and Casey always says , "Molly is so cute". Casey knows the limitations for the most part of playing with Molly but Julia does not at all. She tries to stick her fingers in her mouth or put a toy in her mouth. I have to watch out very closely.
Molly is doing great as well. Last week we were at the cardiologist and the hole in her heart closed up. That is a relief to me and great that we no longer have to go back there to get it checked. She is still gaining weight nicely and comes in around the 50th percentile still. She is sleeping much better. We moved her into her own room and it has helped a ton. Every night she goes down without a peep at 7pm. She sleeps until around 4am at which point I just give her a few ounces and she goes right back down until 7:30 or 8am. She has slept through the night a bunch of times and we are excited for it to become consistent. Things got much better with her nights when she found her thumb. She rarely needs a paci at all anymore, only sometimes during the day when she is fussy. I'm in a terrible stage where I feel like I hear crying in my head all the time at night. I'm constantly staring at the monitor wondering if it is turned too quietly, it's not fun. Molly drinks 4x 5oz bottles a day and the Dr said we can boost the number of ounces and start some rice cereal/baby food soon. I am not really looking forward to that stage of eating, it is so messy. It is really only fun the first time around. She is rolling around a lot on the floor. She can roll from her belly to her back fairly easily and she rolls 99% of the way from her back to her belly but gets stuck on her one arm. She loves having her feet up in the air and holding her toes. She always has her hands or fingers in her mouth. She has begun bucking when she is seated in her car seat stroller. We've tried her in the forward facing one a few times now.
Halloween was fun again this year. Casey really enjoyed it and liked running around with some of her friends trick or treating. Julia liked the idea of things and wearing her costume, but she was unsure about trick or treating and wanted James to carry her. We didn't end up dressing Molly up as it was a cold night so she stayed home with LaLa. Julia also had a fun birthday. On her actual birthday Mark and Jen came up with their kids to have cake with us and so did Eddie. Then we went to Boston the next day and Julia had cake again with cousin Emily. They liked to sing over and over and blow out the candles over and over again.