The bubba party

I'm not proud but until a couple of nights ago the three year old has been using her pacifier (we call it a bubba) when she sleeps.  When I start to let my "mommy guilt" set in I think about how I have caused her orthodontic and possible speech issues along with teaching her how to have a crutch just to make my life a little easier.  Well the fact is- there is no answer book in the world of parenthood and we are all just doing what we can to survive.  Yes, I see it as survival.  In his undying effort to keep me from overthinking and guilting myself, Tony reminded me that we would have done this a year ago if not for all the big transitions Ada has been through.  We wanted her to have something for comfort with all the changes and that is true.  But now, things are more stable and it's time.  Did I mention she's 3?

So, on the advise of the N.P. (their primary care person) and several friends we decided to do a "bubba party" and to leave the bubba for the "bubba fairy" to come and get and magically turn it into a bubba for a tiny baby.  She seemed to buy the story.

The cake....

It was a ballerina bubba party- because much of our life is "ballerina-ed"

Ada wrote a note to the fairy after the party telling the fairy that she wanted her bubba to be made into a new bubba for a tiny baby girl named Eve.  We folded up the note and put it and the bubba into a bag and taped it to the sliding glass door.

And...The fairy came!!  She left a glittery note for Ada saying how proud she was and how big she was.

Notice Books waiting to come in:) I imagine he's thinking something like, "great, something else to be chased with and to have less attention payed to me.  awesome."

Honestly we had been planning on her having a bike for this summer but this made it way more fun for everyone.

Ada even got excited about Emma using her old "bike".  And off they went with Papa on the maiden voyage.

The going to bed without a bubba portion of this experiment has been a little rough.  She screams and cries and pleads.  Last night she got so desperate she even said, "no, I'm not a big girl I'm a baby.  I need my bubba!"  If you know Ada, you know she would never call herself anything but a big girl, so this was a last ditch effort for sure.

I am trying to remind myself that it will all be better in the end and that as her parent I need to see the end game of a person who can get through tough times on her own.  She needs to be able to fall asleep and we need to give her the opportunity to succeed.  Without a bubba/ crutch.  But it's hard.  I feel responsible.  I feel guilty.  Of course, because Ada is such a vocal and expressive person it makes it a bit harder when she explains that she wants her bubba and she feels sad without it.  We'll get through it and just when we get this bubba thing under control, I'm sure there will be a new challenge to pop up.  That old phrase comes to mind from my farming days, "It's always something and it never ends."  But it's good.

In other news, I made a recipe from Pinterest this morning.  These cinnamon roll pancakes looked so yummy and easy I had to try them.  Well the result was meh.  Not bad but I probably won't make them again.  If they look good to you I would suggest making half the frosting recipe- it makes a surprising amount.