Golden Pig Tales

I wonder if there is a P.A., or Pacifiers Anonymous, for kids addicted to the pacifier? If there is, I wonder if Ezra should join for he has shown addiction minutes ago with whimpers and a frantic search for his pacifier last seen behind the couch, but the pacifier was missing from behind the couch for it was in my pocket. I tried not to give him his pacifier, but the intense expressions and sounds coming from Ezra reminded me of a smoker who hadn’t had a cigarette all day. He had only been without pacifier for a few minutes after he dropped it, on purpose, behind the couch. He forgot about it while we played blocks and while he swept the floor, but then suddenly there was a need for the pacifier, so he looked behind the couch and didn’t see a pacifier then began to have pacifier withdrawals.

I have given in. He has his pacifier now and is calm and sucking away. I reason his stress for pacifier need not be for he probably is still going through withdrawals from no more nursing. At least it won’t destroy his lungs and increase the chances of throat and lung cancer.

Yay! Yay! Yay! Ezra is 15 months old today! And right now, he is crying in his crib because he woke up due to a stuffy nose, and I went in to check on him picked him up and gave him a hug, and now he wants me to nurse him, and I am trying very hard to work with him to give up the night nursings after he goes to bed. But he is very VERY persistent and stubborn and knows what he wants, so he pulls quite a screaming kicking crying tantrum in hopes it will make me give in (again) and give him the boob.   These night nursings have definitely become his comfort device, and I would like for Ezra to learn how to find comfort in other ways and other things aside from my boobs. I would like for him to be satisfied with a hug and cuddle when he wakes up at night for whatever reason.  Plus, I need Ezra to learn that when I say no I mean it so tonight I must not give in!

I have found myself at a disadvantage when it comes to soothing Ezra because I don’t have breasts to cuddle him or to give him the soothing suction surface of a natural nipple that produces milk for I have no breasts and my nipples are too small.

My lack of breasts has had me envious for I couldn’t calm and quiet a fussing and crying Ezra like -v-. While my lack of soothing accessories or talent has during the past allowed me to remain sleeping when a fevered or sick Ezra wakes fussing during the night, deep inside there was some envy and there is also the reality that there are times when -v- isn’t around to help sooth a fevered or sick Ezra.

I am happy to write that I can now take a crying and screaming fevered or sick Ezra and turn that Ezra into a calm and sometimes sleeping baby.

Instead of breasts, I use the baby carrier. An Ergo Baby carrier purchased for Ezra now that he is too big for the BabyBjörn. A baby carrier that is easy to attach to me and easy to put Ezra in and take Ezra out for the shoulder harness slips on and off with ease.

Of course, the new baby carrier isn’t the only thing that is helping sooth Ezra. I have also learned the baby walk bounce, and I have a technique of laying down on a bed or couch and slipping Ezra off my chest onto the bed or couch when Ezra is sleeping, so I can sit by and calm myself after a fussing fit of Ezra. There is also the slow and steady laying-down-sleeping-Ezra-in-crib technique that has improved over time. AND -v- has shown me that rubbing Ezra on the back will help Ezra return to sleep if he wakes when he is put in the crib.

Though my new found soothing techniques now have me up very early in the morning to sooth a fever stricken Ezra to sleep, I can at least help out and feel more like a dad once Ezra calms and returns to dreamland.

I had to find the Golden Alarm’s snooze button which just happen to be a pacifier. I found it. Then I talked to the Golden Alarm. Then his loud whine became silence, and the Golden Alarm was off.

After Ezra officially is put to bed for the night there are typically a couple of Ezra Aftershocks with him waking with a teething pain, a gas bubble, or some other discomfort that may arouse him from his sleep. -v- and I are then alerted to this discomfort through one of the two baby monitors or a crying sound that carries through the thin walls of the house.

If -v- and I are awake, we usually take turns going into Ezra’s room and try to sooth Ezra back to sleep. My technique is simple: I try to find the pacifier and put it his mouth and hope and hope and hope that he calms and returns to peaceful sleep. If he doesn’t, then usually -v- will be needed to help sooth Ezra to sleep.

If -v- and I are sleeping, then -v- usually wakes up. On the occasion I wake up, I do the same thing I do when -v- and I are awake, which usually never works, and -v- then wakes and soothes Ezra.