There have recently been some big changes in the Merrill household.
1. Last Thursday, Mahalia had to say goodbye to her hoss-hoss (pacifier). It was just time. That day was really rough on all of us, but things got easier a little more each day after that. After that first day when she asked for her pacifier several times, she only asked for it about 1-2 times each day for about a week. As of today, however, she hasn't asked for it since this past Thursday (8/19). That's pretty impressive for a kid who was obsessed with her paci for pretty much her whole life...all 21 months that she had it. =) Here is the video of the big goodbye:
2. Along with saying goodbye to her pacifier, Mahalia also said goodbye to playing with mommy's hair. If you have spent any time with us in the past 8 months, you know that Mahalia has had an intense love affair with my hair. She started out playing with it just when she was falling asleep but then graduated to an all-day obsession. She would stroke, pull, or rub my hair anytime I was anywhere near her on any given day. Well, I never thought I would miss it (and mostly, I don't), but I did get a little sad when she stopped showing interest so abruptly. The good thing is that I might get to keep my hair attached to my head from now on AND I won't have to come up with a way to wean her off of it. The only thing I could come up with was shaving my head...Jeremy said no to that idea.
3. Mahalia has definitely become a big "daddy's girl" in the past week. Before taking away her pacifier, and during the time that Jeremy has been out of school for the summer, Mahalia seemed to have an equal preference for both of us. But ever since her MEAN MOMMY made her give away her pacifiers and her HERO DADDY comforted her, Mahalia has been pretty obvious about her preference for "Dada". Part of me is glad that she is bonding more with him, but part of me is scared that when he goes back to school this week, she will have the biggest meltdown of all time...and guess who gets to bear the brunt of that? Mommy! Yay! =(
4. On Sunday (8/15) Mahalia started potty training! And SHE was the one who initiated it! Each of the first two days, she went once and it was either right before or right after taking a bath. Starting on the third day, however, she now uses it several times throughout the day. Although she has had several accidents, she is generally pretty good about going on the potty. I think the biggest reasons for her success are that 1. she was ready, 2. she gets M&Ms for going (2 for pee and 5 for poop...it is a big deal!), and 3. we praise her A LOT for being a big girl who uses the potty. Whenever she goes, she has to tell the parent who didn't go with her to the bathroom all about it. She is so proud and excited about it! It's pretty cute. =)
5. Mahalia seems to be able to communicate more and more every day. She often uses 3-4 word sentences (even if some of the words are hard to understand). Some of the cuter things that she says are "Goodnight, Mommy/Dada", "You okay?", "(Name), where are you?", and "Here you go" (usually when feeding Marley, but also when bringing our shoes to us so we can take her somewhere). She enjoys telling us (and anyone else who will listen) about the sounds that various animals make or just identifying different animals. She is often heard putting her babies/stuffed animals/bath toys on "time-out". Mahalia also seems to like learning people's names lately. Lucky for her, we have lots of family and friends whose names she can learn. =)
6. Mahalia has been going to swim lessons for the past few weeks. We go twice a week (Monday and Wednesday) for 30 minutes. Jeremy and I usually switch off each time so that each of us gets to go in the pool with her. She loves being in the water, but isn't always cooperative about doing the activities that she's supposed to be doing. To help her get more comfortable with some of her least favorite activities (like swimming on her back and blowing bubbles) we try to go swimming in our pool at least once between Wednesday and Monday. We went to our pool this past Friday and Mahalia had the most fun that she's ever had in the pool! She decided it was fun to jump in the pool over and over again. She became so confident that I could move about 3-4 feet away from where she was jumping in and she was okay with it...even when she was going pretty far under the water. Now we just have to make sure she learns NOT to jump in when one of us isn't in the water to catch her! =) One of her favorite parts of swim lessons is singing songs. Her favorite song is "Motor Boat". She likes to sing it when we go in our pool, when she's taking a bath, or just randomly when she's playing with her toys. =)
Well, I think those are the major things that have been happening since the last update. I will most likely be posting something about her reaction to Jeremy returning to work this week. Stay tuned...
