Paci Free!

We have been talking about doing away with the pacifiers for a while now. I think since his 12 month doctor's appointment when the doctor told us to go cold turkey with it or cut the tip off of it. But then he would be teething, sick, or we'd be on vacation...the list goes on. We decided about a month ago that we were only going to have them in his bed, for when he was sleepy, and that was it. But, somehow he would manage to get them out and would scream bloody murder when we took it away. Then we would give in again because maybe he didn't feel good or was teething. But then he started using the paci started being a problem while we were out because, when he would get upset, he would throw it on the ground and watch us scramble for it. So we decided after the 100th time of that happening at a restaurant Wednesday (possibly the one that gave me food poisoning) that we were doing it cold turkey. We knew that he was fine without it since we had stopped sending him with one to daycare but we thought bedtime was going to be a different story.

When we got home from the restaurant, I gathered up all the pacifiers I could find, in all their little hiding spots. I put them in a ziplock baggie and Larry had Jackson say goodbye to the pacifiers. Jackson hugged the bag and gave it a kiss and then went about his business. When we sat down to read our story he was not happy that he didn't have a paci to hold on to, and he kept asking for one and reaching out for his bed just knowing one (or four) was waiting for him. He was very fussy so we just put him to bed, with some teething toys, and he was fine. He hung out quietly in his crib for 15 minutes and then it all must have hit him. He really started crying and getting mad, so we went in to comfort him. Then he cried and we waited 10 minutes and then went in to comfort him. Then he cried and we waited 15 minutes and then comforted him. Then he cried and finally fell to sleep at 10:20. He only fussed once during the night but then quickly fell back to sleep. He woke up at 5am which is a couple hours earlier than usual and he would not let go of his knitted blanket that Grandma Trudy knit him so we're thinking he has a new love there. How quickly they move on.

The next night, Thursday, he only fussed for about 2 minutes before falling asleep and he stayed asleep all night. Side note: Which was good because I was up all night vomiting and other things all night long. Larry was such a good nurse and was up with me with a cold compress, emptying my puke bowl and holding my hair. Thanks Lar. Friday night he fussed a little and slept until 7 am. He is fussy during the day at times and asks for it, but he is also noticibly more talkitive. It is so cute. Hopefully things will continue getting better, which they have. I thought it was going to be a lot worse on all of us but who knows, he may still talk about this years later in his therapy sessions.



Having the paci talk.



You're not serious are you?



This is what I think about your plans.



I want my paci.