Grasping at Straws

I am pretty sure I have never been more happy with one of my children accomplishing a simple task than I was last night!  HE GOT IT!  He really got it!  We have been grasping at straws – literally – for over 3 months to get Finn to transition from the bottle to a sippy cup as recommended by our pediatrician.  He hates sippy cups. HATES them!  This kid is strong, and opinionated, and he was having nothing of this sippy cup business.  So, friends suggested straws.  I know for a fact Emma and Lara got straw cups by about 7-8 months, and Jake by 10 months.  Finn just wants to bite down on the straw as hard as he possibly can!  Then pull it out of the cup!  UGH!   We even had one straw cup (highly recommended) by Playtex that you could squeeze to help get the flow started.  HE HATED IT!  You see where this is going, yes?

In my ever growing  love of the Internet and all things social media, I am lucky enough to find very resourceful pages to follow on Facebook.  Some of my favorites that I follow that deal with prematurity and the NICU are It's a Preemie Thing,  Peek-a-Boo ICU and Life After NICU.  Around Christmas time, someone posted about the “Mr. Juice Bear” from Beyond Play on the It's a Preemie Thing page.  I was very interested in it, but wasn’t ready to purchase it just yet. My mind changed about a week later after more unsuccessful attempts at sippy cups and straws. The special squeeze bear and tubing straws arrived Thursday night last week.  My mom tried it with him on Friday, but he just wanted to play with the cute bear!  I mean, he is cute…  (And yes, this is a honey bear bottle and basic tubing, but it works!)  But when I tried it Saturday at dinner, HE DID IT!  I had been squeezing the bear to prime it get the milk into his mouth, and suddenly one time he actually closed his lips and sucked the milk on his own!  And then he did it several more times!  

He has been using it, as well as the Playtex cup mentioned above, successfully all day!  He still tries to bite the straw more than he should, but he can do it!  He can close his lips and suck!  YAYAYAYAY!  So proud of him!

And in other news, we had Finn's 15 month / "I SHOULD BE ONE" photo shoot this week!  I am so impressed with Shawna Meyer and Touch of Wonder Photography!  We had a GREAT time in the mini-session we won back in the fall with her contest!  The hat and scarf he is sporting were the props I won from Shutterfly Prop Shop in the same contest.  This is the image Shawna posted as a sneak peek!  I can't wait to see the rest!

You Can't WIN...

... if you don't enter!

So, I entered Finn in a fun Facebook contest to try to win some photos of him.  This contest requires friends to help by liking 2 pages on Facebook and liking the photo of Finn that I entered in the contest.  Three short clicks is all it takes to cast your vote, and I made it super easy by putting all the direct links to the things you have to "Like"  in the rules I've posted here:

1. Go "like" Shutterfly PropShop

2. Go "like" Touch of WonderPhotography

3. Find the Ultimate Dream-Baby Contest album and "like" this picture of Finn (&tiny Finn) :) 

My "story" is in the caption of this photo as well.  As of Sunday afternoon, we are about in the middle as far as votes on the picture go, but I have no way of knowing if those voters followed all 3 steps!  Finn needs more votes!  (Voting closes September 30th at 10:00pm.)  We truly appreciate your help with this!

Big Wheel Turning

Whew!  What a week!

Here are the family member highlights:

Emma – started Volleyball practice; found a club she wants to join that is FULL of creativity; started math tutoring

Lara – tried out for a role in the Nutcracker Dream, and got a demi-solo!!!  Plus another group dance in the production; started math tutoring

Jake – survived being in the parent pick up line - he was convinced he would get left at school!

Finn – weighed in at 16 pounds 11 ounces, and entered a contest (more on that soon…)

Me – worked 14 hours one day and 9 hours the next setting up for (and then SHOPPING) the Adorable Affordables consignment sale!  (The sale is still going on!  Go check it out today and tomorrow!)

Hubby – held it all together while I was off doing my thing, and worked a 9 hour day at the sale as well!

Family – participated in the Chick-fil-a Stillwater fundraiser for our March of Dimes March for Babies walk!

It has been a crazy hectic week – but they all seem to be lately!  I am so proud of my girls!  They are truly shocking me with their talent, level of determination, and willingness to branch out on their own and try new things!  Lara literally made me leave her audition – she wanted to do it all on her own!  And Emma has made great strides in volleyball, and is planning on playing at the college level!  They are growing up TOO FAST!

My latest endeavor is to win Finn some “1 year” pictures.  But not in October when he will celebrate his first chronological birthday, but in January when he SHOULD be one!  So, I got wind of a fun Facebook contest, and decided I wanted to try our hand at it.  Touch of Wonder does AMAZING work, and I love the props over at Shutterfly, so helping them get some likes and showing off one of my favorite Finn Pics is all I have to do to win.  But, I need help.  That’s where you, Finn’s Fans and my readers, come in to play!  This is a 3-click process, and here’s how it goes (all the links are hot links so you can click directly from this post!)

1. Go "like" Shutterfly PropShop

2. Go "like" Touch of WonderPhotography

3. Find the Ultimate Dream-Baby Contest album and "like" this picture of Finn (&tiny Finn) :) 

This weekend we are still chasing the wind with kids activities!  If you need a car wash, come to Richmond Elementary tomorrow morning between 9 and 11 and the Rocketeers will fix you up!  It is a fundraiser for the 4^th & 5^th grade choir.  Emma has first 2 volleyball games of this fall season, Lara has Nutcracker rehearsal, and I have sorority obligations!  This big wheel just keeps on turning!  And we love it that way!