So, I posted on Saturday night, and now it’s time to update.

They slept great on Saturday night. I didn’t, because some idiots were playing flag football outside our house at 1:30 am. Grrrr. When the boys woke up Sunday morning, Miles had undressed his bear, with the clear intention of wanting the binky out. But he wasn’t too upset or anything. Whew.

My friend Terry invited us to go see Toy Story 3 with her and her daughters, and since I only had two boys, I decided to take them again. We needed to get out of the house, and this was perfect. They were good again, but I have to say it’s much easier to just have two kids at a time, especially for outings like this.

After the movie, I took the boys home and attempted to put them down for a nap. No go. Eventually, I got them up and we took them to a friend’s house for a Fourth of July BBQ. That was nice. They made friends with a dog named Oliver, which caused much confusion. Hee hee!

Yum!

Playing:

They were getting a bit cranky towards the end of the evening, so we took them home, put them to bed, and I went back to our friend’s house so I could watch fireworks. And attempt to photograph them without a tripod. I gave up quickly because it’s more fun just to watch them!

Sunday night, they slept great again, but alas, I did not. Some idiots (probably the same ones from the night before) decided to set off fireworks in the street right outside my bedroom window at 11:30. I was thisclose to calling the cops when they left. GRRRRRRRR…

Monday (we all had the day off), we got up and I took the boys to the gym with me. Then I fed them and we tried a nap. Again, no go. Booooo. So we went to pick up Oliver (“not the dog!”) and came home. It was good to have all three of my boys back again, but BOY were they cranky last night. I took their monthly picture before all hell broke loose, thankfully.

They went to bed, again, without any fuss. Someone woke up crying for a minute or two at 4:30 am, but I didn’t even hear the telltale “mah binkeeeeeeeeee!” so I don’t even know if it was Miles or Linus.

All in all, the great binky weaning was a great success! They hardly asked about them yesterday during the day, and Miles has warmed up to his Evil Binky-Eating Bear a bit. Hopefully they’ll be friends one day.

Today was the big day. We took all three boys to the mall, where we met George’s parents for lunch. (In eight years of knowing George, this is the first time I’ve eaten at a restaurant with his mom. She has celiac disease, but we went to PF Chang’s, where they have a gluten-free menu.) They were very nice there. The manager came to talk to us, partially because he has two year old twins. And right before we left, the host ran to the back and brought us this tiny gift bag with three ceramic good luck cats in it. So strangely thoughtful for a chain restaurant!

Anyhoo…after lunch (during which I had a sinking feeling in my stomach) we headed down to the Build-A-Bear store. After much dithering, the boys chose their bears. (At first, they all made beelines for the pink bears, but they ended up picking more, well, boyish bears.)

Miles was first up getting his bear stuffed. My tummy was doing flip-flops and when it came time for Miles to put his binky in the bear, I burst into tears. What a wuss. I don’t really know why I did, really. Is it because my babies are growing up? I don’t know, I think it’s because I feel sad and guilty for taking away something that gives them so much comfort.

Linus went next, with his bunny. He, like Miles, willingly put his binky in the bunny.

Oliver was last, and we let him put a binky in his bear too, just so he wouldn’t feel left out. After they were all sewn up, we found some cool Buzz Lightyear outfits for the animals, and we checked out.

I wanted to run to Gymboree for a second, so I took Oliver with me, while everyone else was going to hit the Apple store. But this was a bad, bad idea, because apparently when I left, Miles started freaking out, and didn’t stop until we got to the car. He desperately wanted his binky back, and kept screaming and sobbing “GET IT OUT!”

That was heartbreaking.

Anyway, we went to G&G’s house and dressed the animals in their new outfits, and everything was okay for a while. Eventually we left, leaving Oliver with G&G and taking Miles and Linus with us. I didn’t want Oliver to have to suffer through the screaming that might occur all night long, so we left him to be spoiled and coddled mercilessly.

The rest of the evening went okay. Miles and Linus were very crabby, but we didn’t put them down for a nap, and I think that contributed a lot to their mood.

We set up the “jumpy” in the backyard, but it only provided a few minutes of this, before the crankypants took over:

Before going to bed, Miles undressed his bear with the intention of getting the binky out, but I just explained again that he couldn’t get it out. Ugh.

Finally, we put them to bed, and, fingers crossed, there hasn’t been much screaming. I think they were just so exhausted. The big test will be to see if they sleep all the way through the night without waking up in search of their binkies…

Linus and Miles get their binkies for ONE MORE NIGHT. That’s it. That also probably means Mommy and Daddy get ONE MORE NIGHT of sleep. Gaah!

(In case you’re worried, Oliver gets to keep his thumb. Forever.)

So here’s the plan. Tomorrow we’re going to meet Granny and Grandpa at the mall. At the Build-A-Bear store, specifically. G&G will help Oliver pick out his own bear, while George and I will work with Miles and Linus on their bears. Binkies will go in the bears’ tummies and will then get sewn up. And NO, I’m not worried about them ripping the bears open. Everyone asks me this. Do you think my kids have superhuman strength or something?

And then G&G will take Oliver to their house and spoil him mercilessly, while George and I do everything in our power to wear Linus and Miles out, so they will sleep like babies and not even WONDER where the binkies went.

Sounds good, eh?

We’ll see.

In the meantime, here are some pictures you won’t ever see again…