We don't need no stinkin' ma's...

My ever-growing child has finally left the last trappings of babyhood behind him - he no longer needs a pacifier (aka "ma") to go to sleep. For posterity's sake (read: bore warning), here is the saga of the "ma":


I was always "that person" who said ridiculous things like, "When I have kids, I will never..." insert any of those controversial topics here - use lots of drugs to ease childbirth (ha! That took an hour to change), use a walker, use a pacifier... But when Tater was three weeks old and I basically had a tiny leech (adorable leech though he was) attached to me 24/7 because he always needed to suck, I caved in and gave him a pacifier. It ended up being a wonderful thing - he was such a sucker. Always needed something in his mouth, and it wasn't always convenient for it to be me. Some babies just need to suck more - mine was one of them.

As he got bigger, the pacifier became known as a "ma" - not sure why, but I have a couple of theories, mostly pertaining to the fact that he started calling it that around the time he was weaned. And at around a year, the ma became off-limits except for at nap and bedtimes. There's no way he would have been sleeping through the night without it - but his decision to finally sleep through the night at 13 months is a different post entirely. At his 18-month appointment, I made the mistake of asking his doctor about it - when he should get rid of it. His answer? Now.

Poo. I knew Tater wasn't ready to give it up, and I wasn't ready for the sleepless nights I was anticipating without it. So we waited. A friend at school told me that her daughters gave it up when they turned 2, because "now they were big girls, and pacifiers were for babies." She said both girls totally bought into that, and were fine with giving them up, using that mentality. I was skeptical, but you know what? IT WORKS!!!

Last Thursday and Friday, I started talking up the fact that Tater was becoming such a big boy, and that soon he would have to go to sleep without the ma, because big boys don't need them. It was amazing to watch him sort of roll the idea around in his head... he really seriously considered it! He'd ask questions at random times like "Caleb need a ma?" and "I a big boy now?" But it still came as a bit of a shock when he didn't argue too much Saturday night when he didn't get one (of course, I'm sure that getting to fall asleep in Mama and Daddy's bed softened the blow a little). And he slept all night, even if I did go in the next morning to find him at the foot end of the bed with his animals and blankets spread all over the place and a puzzled look on his face. "Where my ma go?" He was pretty proud of himself when I told him he'd slept all night without it. The next day, same thing - very little complaint. In fact it wasn't until Tuesday nap that we had an issue (see previous post), and part of that may have been over-tiredness.

I am so proud of my little man. He is just so big. I almost miss seeing that pacifier in his sweet little mouth... he just isn't my baby anymore!

Naptime Fun

As I sit here typing, my darling son is doing everything in his power to avoid going to sleep for his nap. He's already switched out blankets twice, managed to make his water cup leak so I had to come in an remove it, cried for 10 minutes, and now it is booger time. Yes, booger time.

His words. Evidently he has resorted to picking his nose, because this is what I heard after 20 seconds or so of silence.
"Mama! It's a booger! BOOGER!!! There's a booger on my finger! Mama! Booger time!"
"Mama, get the booger off my finger! (more tears) Booger, booger, booger, booger!"

And it continues, but you get the point. And now we're back to the screaming and crying. This is the first naptime he's slept in his own bed without a pacifier (see the "Ma" post), and it is not going well. But I will not go in there. I will be strong. Even if I cry too.

Update: I did go in there. I was not strong. After 30 more minutes, he had worked himself into such a tearful frenzy that I couldn't stand it. I had to go hold my boy. I rocked him to sleep in 5 minutes, something I had not done in quite some time. I just watched his little face, shuddering with left-over sobs every now and then, in awe that this beautiful child is mine. Dangit - even in his sleep, the kid already knows how to make Mom forget she was ever mad at him.

I got got

Good morning to me!


So this morning, I was running a little late to school, and instead of my normal 1st and 2nd period conference/teaming periods to get myself together, I had an ARD meeting at 8:30 followed by the 7th period final, leaving me the 30 minutes before school to get my room and my self ready for the day. BUT... This is what greeted me at my door:

I may or may not have taken part in some paybacks for some other classroom "decorating", and I guess karma got me. Or a certain team that will remain unnamed.

But you know what? I wasn't mad or even annoyed. I'm totally flattered. I like it that I got got (I know, it's supposed to be gotten. Or said completely differently. It's called creative license, Mom. :) ). It means I have friends. Plus it wasn't too hard to clean up. I really gotta say, it totally made my day. Thanks, pranksters! I love you guys too!

Tidbits from the day

Thursday, May 22. The last full Thursday of the school year. Smiles.

It's almost 10 pm, which is the late end of bedtime, but I'm still up. Why? Because I'm a wuss who can't go to bed without her hubby being home. We're in round 2 of the rodeo committee saga of the year - the PBR - and I'm once again a single mom for the week. That's never a good thing. Somehow having 3 people here instead of 2 is motivation enough for me to fix a real semi-well-rounded meal. But if it's just Tater and me? Anything goes.
Tater's supper: an assortment of lunchmeat, Triscuits and Cap'n Crunch
My supper: Julio's and guacamole

Guacamole is my new favorite thing on the planet. I got 3 avocados on Sunday, made the guac, and had it completely finished off by Tuesday night. I got 2 more avocados today. I just couldn't help it. Then tonight I made the huge mistake of looking up just exactly how much fat is in an avocado. Ready for this? 25-35 grams on average. Holy guacamole! I mean, I knew they were good for you but were high in fat, but geez!! So I guess I'm gonna have to take it easy on the green stuff. Which leads me to my next topic...

I have found every last one of the 8 lbs I'd lost over the past couple of months. They made their way back home. But it's entirely my fault. I have been a total pig the last month. I've had major sweet tooth moments and seem to have lost my self-control entirely. Case in point:

This week is teacher appreciation at my school (During which our principal spoils us entirely). On Monday, we had breakfast... I was good and only had a donut and 2 glasses of chocolate milk. On Tuesday, it was freshly baked cookies all day long. I'm not gonna lie - I had at least 6. (Oh, and don't forget all the guacamole I was consuming when I got home at night!). Yesterday, PTO and our secretary's husband fed us a steak dinner, complete with this incredible lemon custard bar thing that I could not resist. So I had not one, not two, but THREE! What is wrong with me? I'm some kind of sugar addict or something!!

So sadly, the tummy that was starting to slowly dwindle is back up to it's looking-4-months-pregnant status. I'll just have to hope that this ridiculously hot summer will make me lose my appetite.

Today was the 4th day in a row we've hit 100 degrees - according to my truck anyway. And it's not even June. Summer is gonna suck... or, as all my kids who have just seen Shrek the Third as a part of our medieval unit would say, it's gonna totally sucketh.

Well, maybe not totally... Have I mentioned there are only 5 days of school left?

Sweetest thing

On our way home yesterday, out of nowhere Tater started screaming "Pay! Pay!" Confused, I said, "What, baby? Play?" and started looking around for some new park that had magically appeared by Home Depot or something...
" NO! Pay! Pay God!"
I looked back at him and saw he had his little hands clasped together.
"You want to pray?"
"Yeah! Pay God! You pay too Mom."
It took some time to convince him that I could pray without putting my hands together. Evidently, driving a car is not excuse enough to not pray properly. But I finally got him to go ahead and pray without me. So here it is. His first real prayer, said all on his own with no prompting from Mama.

"Dear God. Thankum day. Aaaannndddd, um... thankum food! Aaaannndddd, um... thankum... um... goats! And thankum sheeps, and thankum deers. Aaannnnddd, thankum... umm... hmm..."
"Are you all finished sugar?"
"Yep! AAAAAA-men!


Thank you Father God, for this unbelievable gift. This miracle of Your creation. This precious little boy that amazes me daily. Thankum.

Countdown

As of the end of today, there are only 6 days of school left. And... my favorite part... the last two of those days involve the kids leaving school at 12:45. I don't even care that we teachers have to stay til 4. I can actually get my work done!
I am beyond excited about this. Especially the time-to-get-my-grades-and-last-minute-stuff-done-without-kids part. And my kids have watched a movie the last two days, so I have already gotten so much accomplished. In fact, I just threw away a to-do list. Because I had done it all!

A few more tidbits about school:

• We got our TAKS scores back unofficially. And they are better than I hoped for. I am incredibly proud of our kids. Across the board.
• There might possibly be a change in my future. My sweet friend who abandoned me in 7th grade for 6th this year will be abandoning us all to stay home doing the mommy thing next year (still so happy for you J!). That leaves a hole in 6th grade writing. I told my boss I'd love to do it. The hole I'd leave can easily be filled - the people who are/will be in my department are great, and there is another person on our team who would be a great team leader. Best part? I'd only be dept. lead, not team leader. Fewer responsibilities, less stress, and NO TAKS TEST. Ok, maybe that's the best part.
• If I do move to 6th, I'd be going out on top, as our test scores are higher than they've ever been. If I don't move, the 6th graders coming to me are coming with even better scores, so I should have an easy time with them. They are a really great group, and I'd look forward to having them
• I have every quiz and test created and copied for the rest of the year. For anybody who is familiar with our 3-year-old copiers FROM HELL, you know how wonderful this is.
• I am teaching summer school this year. I'm not too excited about that fact, but it will be a really good paycheck. It's only 19 days, 8:00 - 1:30. Way easier than boot camp. I can do it.

This morning, one of the teachers on our team showed us the movie she and her daughter made with pictures of our kids throughout the year. I kinda started to tear up. As crazy as some of these kids have made me, I am really going to miss them. If I do move down to 6th grade, I only hope I can joke and play with those sweet babies the way I can with these goofy 7th graders. They really are a breed of their own, these middle schoolers. And I'm so glad God decided to stick me with them.

Tater Logic

Sometimes I really want to know what's going on in this child's brain. For example:
Q: What time is it?
A: Eighty dollars.

Last Saturday, he went to hang out with Grandma and D-pop. I made the mistake of telling him 5 hours before it was actually time to go and had to say "Not yet" about 300 times. But when I first told him he was going over to their house, he clapped his hands together and exclaimed, "Go D-pop's house! Go buy some money!" Um... ok?

Another example of his astounding ability with numbers...
Scenario: He's "measuring" my head with his own little measuring tape
Q: How big is Mommy's head?
A: Two.

And then there's tonight at bedtime. He wasn't really ready to go to sleep. He did the "Hey! Hey Mom!" shout from the crib a couple of times. When I finally caved and went in, he did some cute mumbling and stuttering, finally managing to get out a "My need sumpin,'" but he couldn't come up with what. I gleaned "juice," "raisins" and "potty" out of the garble and had to make a concerted effort to keep myself from laughing. He was definitely grasping at straws.

Gosh that kid's funny.