The 2nd SIL organised a Christmas lunch for the family at their home yesterday. Initially the hubs and I wondered why lunch and the hubs even commented to me that we should go off after eating since the 2nd BIL were having a second round of hosting for their friends. But now that it's over, I find that we actually spent more time over a lunch do! We were there at almost 1, being the first to arrive although we were already late for the 12pm lunch. I guess some things don't change. Their side of the family are never punctual.

It was just as well that the youngest BIL and family arrived late. We could feed baby K without any distractions. We stayed longer than expected, with baby K even taking in an hour and a half's nap. She dozed off while drinking her mid-day milk and I could catch a power nap during her sleep as well.

Talking about which, we managed to wean baby K off her pacifier! Hurray! We have been telling her on several occasions that she is going to school soon and she has to stop the use of her paci. We started restricting the use of her paci only during her sleep time a long time back. When I look at toddlers with a paci in their mouths, I no longer think it's cute. Sometimes I wonder why parents do that when their child is obviously alert and not kicking a fuss. Is that to shut their kid up? I had worried that baby K became too reliant on the paci and that we might have issues getting her to kick the habit but thankfully, the trip to Bangkok seemed to have given her the affirmation that she doesn't need it anymore.

The only time during the entire trip that she had the paci was on the last night when I did some shopping with the other ladies and when I returned to the hotel room, the hubs said that a particular painting in the room seem to have some effect on baby K. She had apparently been pointing at it and telling the hubs that she was scared. Yes, baby K's vocab has grown quite a bit. And that particular night, baby K cried while I was trying ro put her to bed and had to resort to the pacifier. But other than that, a few times when she kicked a fuss due to tiredness, an appearance of her paci did nothing to soothe her. She didn't even welcome it in her mouth anymore. 

Well, for the past month or so, whenever she was at home with us, I stopped the use of her paci at night. It was only during her daytime nap when I relented due to the different conditions, with the sky generally still bright. A suckle on her soother could put her to sleep within 5 minutes. However, at Jeremy's place, Ivy still allowed her to use the paci and only 'listened' to me that 1 night we had to put her at their place after our Bangkok trip. I'm so happy that the habit has been kicked off without much crying or negotiations. 

May the future of teaching her just be as smooth sailing. :)