Am I Holding Them Back?

Getting rid of the bottles was an easy one for me.  Although we didn't do it early, I was more than happy to say adios to our collection of bottles, nipples, drying racks and the hefty formula cost the week before Sam and Anna's one year old birthday.  We had a long struggle with bottle feeding due to reflux, and I was eager to put that as far behind us as possible.

The remaining signs of Sam and Anna's babyhood have been a little harder to let go.  Anna still uses her pacifier ("Nuk") while sleeping at home, albeit not at daycare.  I know it is time to drop that habit, but I'm not up for the bad sleep that we'll inevitably get for a while to make it happen.  It's crazy to me that Sam's been done with any form of pacifiers for over a year but she just keeps hanging on.  I vow to not have a 2 year old with a pacifier, so that means I've got about 2 months left to get that thing out of our house.

Then there are the cups.  I guess Sam and Anna don't use sippy cups at daycare anymore, they are just drinking out of regular cups.  At home, we still get some droppage of cups at times, so that's not something I really want to do full-time here yet.  We still use our space-saver high chairs too, while at daycare Sam and Anna have been sitting on real chairs for the past 4 months.  I like the containment factor honestly.  I know that when they are strapped in, I can usually get them to eat a little bit more before letting them go play again.  

I have no plans on using toddler beds if I can help it either- and Sam and Anna still sleep in their sleep sacks in their cribs to make it happen.  I'd rather buy twin beds this summer and skip the toddler bed step, but am I holding Sam and Anna back by keeping them in cribs for so long without pillows, blankets, etc.?  My daycare provider keeps sending me links to toddler beds on craigslist so I've gotten the impression that she wants us to make the switch, although she hasn't actually said so, because then it will be easier for her while they are with her at daycare.  She did mention once considering taking them out of their pack and plays during nap to see how they do, but she hasn't yet.

And then there's the potty training issue.  Apparently Sam requested to sit on the toilet at daycare this week saying he had to poop.  He wasn't successful, but then Anna of course wanted to sit there as well.  This was the first time my children have sat on the potty.  I'm not ready to potty train.  Maybe my kids are, but I'm not.  The news that Amazon is ending their nice diaper deal tomorrow is a good motivating factor, but I just don't want to tackle that times two yet. 

Am I holding them back from the toddlers they are ready to be?  Is it just that I don't want them to grow up faster than I am ready for?  I prefer to think that it's no big deal, and the pressure I feel to be doing these things are just a product of our society's need to make kids grow up to fast.  What's the harm in waiting a little longer for these things, especially since they are experiencing some of them, some of the time, for practice?

It's not like I treat them like babies in other ways.  I think my children have high expectations set for them in other areas.  They help take off their clothes (and in Anna's case, put them on too), as well as put them in the laundry basket on their own or put their outside clothing away in the right place.  They are expected to clean up, and they have a good handle on sharing even if they don't always want to.  They do puzzles with multiple pieces, and know some things that sometimes kindergartners (5-6 year olds) in my classes start the year not knowing.

In short, I guess I feel like we're doing just fine, even if my almost 2 year olds still sleep in cribs with sleep sacks (one with a pacifier), after drinking from sippy cups in high chairs, with no idea that they can wear something other than diapers if they go in the toilet like big kids.  After all, it's not like they still drink from a bottle.

Oh, Yay

Just found out the cribs my babies have been sleeping for over a month have been recalled. This recall involves Simplicity and Graco drop-sided cribs. I knew we didn't want drop sides when we were looking for cribs, but I couldn't find any white cribs with solid ends that didn't have a drop-side front. The retrofit kits will arrive in "2-3 weeks." What to do until then? I guess Sam and Anna will be sharing the Arms-Reach Co-sleeper once again. And their mom and dad will be back to getting no sleep once again, as well.

Cribs!

A little bit ago we narrowed down our crib choice to 3 options. We wanted white so that they went with the dresser and changing table we are refinishing. I also wanted solid sides if possible, because the plan is to put the two cribs short side to short side- and I had this vision of babies later playing with each other through the slats when they were supposed to be napping. I finally got around to measuring the length of the room to make sure our choices would fit. Then we decided to go with the least expensive of the three options- which is only available online. Sp today I ordered the cribs we decided upon! It seems a little surreal and still not quite right to be able to do this. Nonetheless, it is still exciting!