Nuk nuk redux

As I'm sure I've mentioned at some earlier point, Margaret loves her "nuk nuk." That is, her "binky", her "paci", or, for those not accustomed to toddler lingo, her pacifier. The use of the name nuk-nuk reflects both her preferred brand of pacifier (Nuk) and the sound that she makes when using it (think Maggie Simpson.) Margaret has become pretty skilled in her ability to manipulate the nuk-nuk as she spins it in her mouth without touching it. And N-U-K is probably one of the first words that she learned to "spell" since when I ask Abby, "Where's Margaret's N-U-K?," Margaret immediately says "nuk nuk?" We have since switched to calling it her "comfort device." An open question is how long it will take her to catch on.

She used it in the infant room at daycare, but left it behind when she moved to the toddler room. In fact, the teachers in the toddler room were stunned when I told them that she still used it. But the moment we walk out of daycare, Margaret plaintively cries "Nuk, nuk?" (Incidentally, the teachers at daycare also don't think that Margaret fusses very much - hah! Such a scam this kid has going!) At this point, I don't resist - as long as she's going in the stroller. I figure the nuk nuk is a fair trade-off to avoid a meltdown when I'm trying to belt her in. Especially when I've got Teddy in the lower level of the stroller and he's fussing too. Getting double-teamed by fussy kids isn't pleasant, so I'm not going to put up a struggle just to make a point. Margaret does know that the nuk-nuk isn't a good habit to have. "For babies" she'll occasionally say, after pulling it out of her mouth. But right back it goes.

Until recently, Teddy showed little interest in the nuk-nuk. We tried to give it to him early on to calm him down, but unlike Margaret who was such an enthusiastic sucker that it stayed put, he always quickly spit it out. Recently, however, he's started to use it a bit. When he's napping, the best way to get him back to sleep is to stick something in his mouth for him to suck on. Now that works ok if it's me and have a bottle on hand, but it's less convenient when it's 3:00 AM. So Teddy is slowly, but surely, becoming a convert to the nuk-nuk. He's been using it when we walk home from daycare, and it keeps him blissfully quiet. As it did during our drive to and from Pittsburgh over the weekend.

Do I want another nuk-nuk addict in the family? I ponder this question (briefly) everytime I stick it in his mouth. But if nothing else, I've learned that parenting involves trade-offs. The need to pick your battles. Recognizing that there aren't many battles that you win. So, I suppose, I'm ok with Teddy and the nuk-nuk. If only I could keep his nuk-nuks separate from Maggie's.

By the way, Teddy went to his 4 month check-up today. The doctor said that his sleep patterns weren't ideal since an infant of his age should only be getting up once a night. Tell me something I don't know! And how do we fix this? The pediatrician suggested that I (Papa) should get up and help him get back to sleep. Yeah, like that's a good solution.

But for those of you keeping score, Teddy is tall (90th percentile in height) and moderately chunky (75th percentile in weight.) She also unequivocally and emphatically said that he was clearly, undoubtedly the smartest, most talented baby that she'd ever seen at his age. But of course! (As you might naturally suspect, this particular pediatrician had never examined Margaret.) Apparently, he was also constipated and had a massive blow-out when Abby got him home (for Teddy, we started to refer to it as a pooplosion.) Luckily, Papa didn't attend this visit to the doctor. If he had, he certainly would've had something to say about her "expert" advice on how to deal with his nighttime sleep issues.