Bye-Bye, Paci

Caden gave his paci up months ago. Caroline, on the other hand, has been very attached to her pacifier. For many months, she has only been allowed to have her pacifier in bed which we have been regularly snipping shorter and shorter. Caroline would use it during naps and night time, but that was pretty much it.

Well, last Saturday, we lost (yes, actually lost) her pink paci. Amy and I looked everywhere for the paci and Caroline was unwilling to accept any other pacifier. We tried and she would take any other pacifiers we gave her out of her room entirely. This lead to three rough nights where our awesome sleeper struggled to sleep. She took hours to go to sleep and would wake up crying.

After a few nights, things got better. On the most part, she stopped asking for her pacifier and did a decent job sleeping. Amy and I were thankful that we lost the pacifier and we finally got our little girl off it.

Things changed on Thursday night when just before bed, Caroline squealed and exclaimed, "My paci! I found you!" She showed us and said, "My paci found a really good hiding spot." Caroline immediately put the pacifier into her mouth.

Amy and I couldn't believe it. We had hoped that if anyone found it, it would be mommy or daddy so that we could put this paci thing behind us.We tried to convince Caroline she did not need her paci. We said big girls didn't use pacifiers. Caroline responded with, "I'm not a big girl, I'm a little girl!"

While saying goodnight, Amy attempted to bribe Caroline by saying if she gave up her paci, they would go to Build A Bear and put the paci inside a teddy bear. Caroline was not convinced and kept the paci in her mouth. Amy told Caroline good night and left the room.

When Amy and I were in the living room discussing how much we should snip the pacifier over the next few days, we heard Caroline's door open and three seconds later, slam shut. I walked over to see what was going on and I found Caroline's pacifier on the floor outside her room! I was soooooo incredibly proud of our little girl. I called Amy over to see what had happened. When Amy saw the paci on the floor, she teared up.

I went into Caroline's room to tell her how proud we were. I also told her she was going to get to go make a bear with Mommy the next day. Caroline had a big smile on her face.

The next day, Grammy watched Caden while Caroline and Amy went to Build A Bear. Caroline got to pick out a bear and outfit. All on her own, our little princess picked out the girliest bear you've ever seen. Before they sewed the bear up, Caroline's (sterilized) paci went inside. You can actually feel it in the bear's back if you squeeze tightly.

Here is Caroline with her new bear they named "Paci Bear." You can't see the shoes in this picture but they are pink and sparkly.

Caroline loves the bear so much and has told us so numerous times. We are so thankful to finally be a pacifier free house.

At bedtime, Caroline climbed into bed with Paci Bear. She then calmly said, "I think I'll try the green paci now." :) Oh, my, gosh, no! We laughed and told her she was done with pacifiers. Thankfuly, Caroline was okay with that. I think she thought it was worth a try and heck, she might have been able to trade the green paci in for another bear.