No More Nummy! No More Nuk! Put the Paci in the Trashy!!

The nummy (or bye-eee as Jake liked to call it) has officially been gone for two weeks now! I honestly thought the kid was going to graduate from high school with it still in his mouth. He was an addict. Paul and I both knew it was that time -- he didn't *really* need it, he was just so used to having it that he threw a fit without it. He never used it at school during the day; it was just a crutch when he was at home or when he was going to sleep.

We hyped up a trip to Toys 'R Us for new tools for a couple of days (as you know, he is way obsessed with tools) and he agreed to give away his pacifiers for new tools. One afternoon after school, Paul had Jake round up all of his nummys around the house and he put them in a container. We took them to Toys 'R Us with the understanding that he would leave them there for new tools. After we picked out tools (a rolling tool chest and tool box and a power drill), we went to the checkout and the ladies there were great. They helped us make a big deal about trading in the nummys. One of the ladies brought out a trash can and Jake put the container in and really never looked back...

The first couple of nights he definitely asked for it (and then again the next morning) but we reminded him that he got rid of them for the new tools and he eventually forgot that he wanted it. He hasn't even asked for one in the last week or so. Finally free! And now we can understand his speech even better.

So we're going 2 for 3 now.... got rid of the nums, pretty much potty trained, now we just have to work on sleeping in his bed on his own. But for now, I feel pretty accomplished!

Race for the Cure Pics

Slideshow of some pictures from Race for the Cure 2010 - and of course the classic shots of the kids asleep ;-)

Strength

I have been following the Declan's Journey blog for a while now (http://declansjourney.com/) and reading the post from today (6/10) reminds me that our 3 year old's temper tantrum at 5am this morning is NOTHING compared to what this family struggles with every day. The resilience and optimism that Declan's mom has strengthens my patience and reminds me to count my blessings for our two healthy, happy boys every single day. If you have a minute to read a couple of her posts on the blog, please do, and say a prayer for Mr. Declan. I don't know the family personally, but they are local (Loudoun County) and have four boys, the youngest two are twins, one of which is going through a battle to save his life from a rare form of brain cancer -- at 9 months old. Unbelievable.

Race for the Cure 2010!

Video below of the runner start area (and the Gunnings) right before the race began. We were in the company of 40,000+ of our closest friends! As always, a very inspiring and emotional event.

The Video!

Okay so I am not technically savvy enough to figure out how to rotate the video (I can rotate pictures, but couldn't figure out how to rotate the darn video), but turn your head a bit to the left and enjoy!! More to come as he gets proficient!

First Steps for an Audience!

Josh decided that he was going to make his walking debut in style! After Saturday's Race for the Cure in downtown DC, Josh figured he was ready to take a couple of steps on his own -- for a huge audience! He still prefers crawling or holding someone's hand while walking but on a couple of occasions, he stood on his own and took 3-4 steps towards someone (thereby throwing himself into someone's lap). And in the midst of his proud mommy's smile and wet eyes, passersby were clapping and cheering for him. Quite the amusing spectacle.

And yes, the second one taking first steps is still as amazing and exciting as the first one!

PS -- finally realized that my old camera is broken (hence the lack of pics/videos lately). We bought a new one on Friday night and managed to capture Josh's downtown DC steps on video! I will figure out how to download and post this evening :-)