Goodbye Paci

Yesterday was a big day for Emma Catherine. For the first time since birth, she slept without her beloved paci. Since she is 2 1/2 and going to preschool in a couple of weeks, we decided it was time to try to get rid of her paci(s). I was very nervous about it because LOVES her paci and always has. She usually has about 6 or 7 in her bed at a time. (I know, it's crazy) Last summer at about 18 months, we cut her paci time to just in the bed and in the car and it went so well that we couldn't believe it. She asked about it but there were no tears or fits. In about April of this year, we told her that her paci now could only stay in her room. Again, no tears. It took a couple of times in the car of her asking where it was, but after that, she didn't even ask. This week, I started talking to her about pacis being for babies and that now she is a big kid because she uses the potty. She decided she should give her pacis to Bailey so she went in Bailey's room and threw (literally) her pacis in Bailey's crib except her Aubie paci. I let her just use her Aubie paci for a couple of days because we wanted to wait to take the paci away until the weekend. (in case things didn't go well) Last night was the big night and who would have guessed, there were no tears. When we were getting ready for bed, she asked about it and started to act like she was going to get upset, but we talked about being a big kid and then distracted her by getting her to choose her book. I read her a book, we said our prayers, covered her up, and that was it. She didn't get up and slept all night. I guess that lets me know that she IS a big kid and could have handled it earlier. Maybe I was more emotionally attached to it than her. I'm not sure, but I definitely didn't give her as much credit as she deserved. She is growing up so fast right before my eyes. Today when she took her nap, again, there were no problems. I am so proud of her!

A while back I posted on Bailey not using the paci. As an update, she is still not using a paci. She is a complete thumb sucker and I'm okay with that. I just pray that maybe we will have as easy of time getting rid of the thumb sucking as we did getting rid of the paci. We'll have to see.