A lot of people beat themselves up about the whole pacifier issue. Should we give them one? Will it affect their eating ability or desire? Will it inhibit speech or cause future dental problems? When is the best time to take it away?
We decided pretty early on, I think, to not really take a stance. If the kids wanted it, that was fine, if they didn't, that was fine too. We bought the orthopedic ones for the sake of dental whatnot, and decided that we would take it away if there seemed to be a problem, but not necessarily at a specific age or anything like that. This is just what we decided.
Now, living the life of public transportation, I have to say that the paci has very often been a lifesaver. Bored, cranky, annoyed, tired Hannah on the bus/ tube/ train/ airplane promptly received her paci and was quickly pacified. Naturally. It definitely hasn't inhibited her speech, her teeth have been fine, etc. But she was growing increasingly demanding for her paci at random times of the day, not just bed time like we tried to do. Also, the germ factor is pretty high with something that we tote all around town and on the bus, and that goes directly into her mouth. So we decided that it was time.
I didn't want to give it up until we were back from our trip to the states, since I knew we would need it to help soothe her to sleep in the various different places that we were staying, keep her calm on long car rides that she wasn't used to, assist her in getting over the jet lag, and assist me in keeping her quiet on those long plane rides. Chris was away for a conference almost as soon as we were back in the UK, but once he was home I decided it was time.
We clipped it on a Sunday night. We had to rock her a bit that night, but overall she was fine about it and would tell you quickly was broken and in the trash. But in true "You've got to be kidding me about the timing of this thing" form, Tuesday night she cried all night long, by Wednesday had a very runny nose and temperature, and we discovered on Friday that she had an ear infection. Also, 2 top molars that were just through the skin. And 2 bottom molars that were just below. (You could see them and feel them, but they weren't out. Yuck.)
Anyway, we contemplated getting her a new paci, just for the week, and then taking it away once the teeth and infection were gone. But then we decided that this is the new normal around here- now if she's having a rough time settling herself down to sleep because of an ear infection, or teeth, or any other reason, we have to be the ones to help her through it. Chris and I (and the rocking chair) are the new pacifiers.
But now we're almost on the other side of it, and it wasn't so bad.
We packed a picnic and enjoyed the sunshine, and Hannah stuck flowers in Chris' nose while he tried to sleep. :)
Jayce was such a helpful little guy that day, and kept chasing after Hannah who kept trying to make a run for it in every direction while we ate. Luckily, it is a big enough place that we can give her some free reign to run around and still keep an eye on her, but whenever she started to get a bit too far away, Jayce would go round her up and drag her back our way.
But eventually we stopped torturing them with eating and let them get on with the playing. 
There is an indoor bug and garden themed play area that they ran around in for a bit. (They are looking at live butterflies in the picture above.)
Then we eventually headed outside to play.
I got this dress for Hannah for her 1st birthday, but it ran big, and she ran small, so it literally was down to her feet. This year it fits great, and I thought a little "party scene" dress was just right for a 2nd birthday full of fun.
After we played on the playground for a bit we decided to explore the grounds, and ended up in one of the greenhouses that has an aquarium in the bottom level. 
Jayce was enamored. He seriously loves fish and fish stuff, so he thought it was great.
More soon.
At the beginning of the month Chris left for a conference that would take him away for 8 days and nights, and let me tell you, I was not looking forward to that. On the morning that he left, Hannah and I dropped Jayce off at school, headed over to Starbucks for breakfast, and then to my 
Then I held onto it for almost a month, making various dresses and tops, but afraid to cut into it until I had found just the right thing because it was just too pretty and perfect.
I decided to do a simple A-line dress, patterned from a dress that she already has. Nothing fancy or fussy, I wanted the incredible fabric to be the "star."
I forgot about the seam allowance to attach the top to the bottom. Then I cut the bodice too tight. And I re-cut the bottom, disassembled and reassembled the top. Detached the skirt, re-attached the new skirt, and realized I still had the same problem as before. And a bunch of other random little things.
And you should see the inside. The finishing is not beautiful.
And it cracks me up how 70s it looks, no matter what I do. I had her hair in a pony tail the first time that I tried it on her, and it almost seemed like I was trying to make her look 70s-ish. So I left her hair down this time, but with her fluffy crown and curly flips on the bottom, it still looks 70s. So we're just going with it.
I added a little pin tuck to the back of the dress, and 2 tiny pink buttons to close the bodice. I love it.
The moral of the story is 3-fold, I think.
When Hannah was a baby, between 6 and 12 months, we discovered that she wouldn't take a bottle, wouldn't have anything to do with formula in any form, and wouldn't drink any version of cow's milk, goat milk, soy milk, etc, just mom's milk. No pressure. Also, she was always tiny, which paired with the above information about her eating preferences, caused me lots of anxiety, tears, and panicked conversations with Chris, her doctor, my friends, my mom, etc. 
Over a year later, we are still in that same boat. Though we make sure she gets calcium and healthy fats through various other sources, occasionally a trip to the store causes me to fall into a state of anxiety/despair with all sorts of thoughts of how terrible of a mom I am and how my child hasn't grown, etc. 
For the record, Hannah doesn't typically wear a size 6-12 months. She is in that 18-24 month range, and is healthy, happy, and we have no reason to be concerned. But sometimes that horrible "mom guilt" charges in and takes over. 
And so I did. And we had yogurt to celebrate my success.
