Paci-Free for 1 week

It has been 1 whole week that Anna has been paci free! Can I get a whoo-hoo?!

Wednesday night I was strategizing my plan for how do ditch the pacifier. I found some good ideas, the paci fairy, dropping it off to the newborn babies at the hospital, and the more intense, cruel method, dipping it in Tabasco sauce. I had decided to do the paci fairy because, well, it was cute. But ironically Thursday morning when Anna woke up, she couldn't find her paci anywhere. We really couldn't. So we went about our day without it. I was so pleased, but nervous for nap time. I had to find that paci before she did. Well, Anna's acting very 2-year-oldish lately, and after playing outside and running out in the road multiple times, that was it. I had had it. So I grabbed my toddler and put her in her room kicking and screaming for her nap hoping she wouldn't find the pacifier that I didn't have the chance to find. Well, she did. Darnit! I still don't know where it was hidden. But we had started something. (And on a side note, she woke up from her nap and she knew she had been naughty. The first thing she said when she saw me was the cutest guilty "Sawrchee!" that I've ever seen.)

The next morning, we just couldn't find the paci after breakfast for some reason. Surprisingly, she seemed to accept this explanation. She would ask for it about once an hour and we would try to "find" it, but of course it was lost. She started asking for it less frequently and naptimes and bedtimes weren't really that bad. (or should I say, weren't much worse) Then she started blaming it on the birdies. Those darn birdies. It must have been those same birdies that took it last Fall when we were outside swinging. They would bring it back on her window sill for naptimes and bedtimes, but then they got lazy and stopped coming to get it again. And that paci made her happy and comforted, and helped mommy on planes since then. So we are very glad that the birdies gave her a break and let her keep it a little longer. When she says that the birdies took her paci, I tell her that yes, it could have been the birdies. They must have noticed that she was a big girl now and that she didn't need the paci anymore. Then she says, "Birdies, take blankie?" Uh-oh this girl may develop a strong dislike of birds.

A couple of days into it, we were reading our bedtime stories and she was being a good girl and putting the books back on the shelves after we were done. She couldn't quite get one in, so I went to go help her by lifting some books that had fallen over. Guess what was stashed underneath? A long-lost forgotten pacifier! I tried to grab it quick, but Anna was onto me. She went right for the pocket I snuck it in and was so pleased that her paci had been "found"! Darnit! That night, I sneaked into her room and swiped that paci away for good, like a mean mommy would. The next morning? Trouble? Nope! Phew! This was going so much easier than I thought.

The only problem with this solution is that she may be on a life-long quest for finding her paci again. The other morning when she woke up, she for some reason had the idea that her paci MUST be in the dryer. That's where she finds her blankie after its been missing after all. So I took her down to our laundry closet and we looked in the washer and the dryer and we just could not find that paci. Hmmmm. It must be gone for good.

I must say that I am so glad that I waited until it seemed right to break the paci habit instead of trying to force it to meet some "ideal" of when she should be done. It made both our lives much easier and I think she actually does get that she's a big girl now and doesn't need it. That's not to say she won't be missing it for awhile. But I think the transition will be easier than it would have been if I tried to force it sooner. Again, just trying to do what's best for her instead of comparing and worrying about what's best for others. (Like the random old ladies in the store telling me that she's too old for a pacifier and their kids stopped theirs at 9 months, blah, blah, blah. Did I ask their opinion? No!)

There definitely is a lot of "big girl"ness going on here lately. She decided to ditch her crib last month and now is in our version of a toddler bed (crib, minus one side) Although it's good to reach these milestones and watch her develop and become an individual and more independent, it also makes me sad. How fast time has flown by since the first time I placed her in that crib to sleep. I love my little, big girl. And now that cute smile of hers won't be hiding behind that big paci anymore.

This is Anna. She has been paci-free for 7 days.