bye bye soother

this week we've decided to take away the soother except for bedtime and occasionally in the car. over the past few weeks he'd become so dependent on the soother that he'd sometimes have one in his mouth and carry the other two around everywhere he went.  he still smiles with delight when he sees his "tsee tsee" (cohen speak for "soother"), sometimes bigger than he smiles when he sees mommy or daddy after they've been gone!

see here he's looking not at his mamma, but his tsee tsee.

 so ya, we're doing it and its working.  in the morning we put the soother on the top of his book shelf and wave "bye bye" to "tsee tsee".  he usually fusses/cries a bit at this point, but i've been trying hard to quickly distract him, and within minutes he's forgotten all about his precious soother.  each day is a little easier and he's at the age where i'm pretty sure he understands what's going on.

it's crazy how much he's catching on to things.  he can make all his animal sounds, identify many parts of his body and even knows the difference between a donkey and a cow!  (the other day i wasn't paying attention and grabbed the toy donkey and asked him "what does a cow say?" and he made the sound for a donkey.  i kept asking and asking, thinking he was wrong, until i realized i had the donkey in my hand all along. who's the donkey now?)

he also does funny things like cough into his sleeve, pick up garbage and put it in the garbage can, and bring me my boots when our dog bailey starts barking in the backyard and won't come when i call her.  it's almost like he's saying "mom, you're gonna need these".

i'm daily, even hourly amazed by the incredible privilege of raising this little soul. what a blessing to be home with him each and every day. yes, it does get monotonous, and sometimes i feel like i have so much pent up passion, drive, motivation that is unrelated to being a wife or mom, but i'm also very aware of the season i'm in.  it's a time to sow into this little life. a time to drink in the sweet moments with him, feel his soft cheek against mine, teach him to say "i love you".

here's a sweet little vid that demonstrates both his incredible passion for "tsee tsee" and his amazing animal sound-making skills! enjoy.