Four Nights

Spencer has gone to sleep without the beloved paci for 4 nights now. FOUR whole nights without a paci, or six, accompanying him. This is incredible!

I've been amazed, impressed, and even proud at how he has managed this big change. It all began Thursday at bedtime when I couldn't find a single paci, let alone the preferable six.

Of course, I wasn't looking all that hard! Then, he didn't even request them or search for them himself. Quite an unusual response for this paci loving boy! But I figured hey, if he's not going to have a burning interest in it I'm not going to offer. So we went on about our routine and all was well. I believe he brought it up once or twice, but it never seemed really all that important. N0 begging, no whining, nothing! More of a “hey, I don't see any of my paci's!” After tucking him in I went to check on the girls who were still reading. I filled Carie in on the situation and she had some in her pockets to offer. Nope, leave them there and we'll see where this goes! It did take him a long time to finally fall asleep. But he did and all was well.

He has mostly managed without his paci at nap time as well. Nap time without paci’s seems to be a bit harder for him. Saturday was a bit rough and we caved in the interest of a nap. It was quite apparent that a no-nap was on the horizon and a no-napped boy with disappearing paci's didn't look like a pleasant afternoon. He wasn't even really asking for it, he was just having a really hard time making the transition to sleep. Once the paci was "discovered", it was only a matter of seconds before he was out. Amazing! It is truly amazing how that thing can change this wild boy that quickly. After he fell asleep the paci disappeared again without question. The boy was rested and ready to tackle the rest of the day and night without his big comfort item.

We had an amazing family weekend. Everyone was in great, or mostly great, spirits. I was truly amazed at how incredible his mood was given this big change. Maybe this is his last big jump from baby to all grown up?

We've been talking about how we'd approach this day. We knew the day needed to come sooner than later. But we couldn't decide on the best approach. Really, the dang thing was just so comforting to him and we weren't prepared to take it on just yet.

We had talked about the Paci Fairy, but were reluctant because we couldn't see him willingly handing them over. We’ve tested the waters with the hypothetical sending them off to some other little boy or girl who needed them. He’d get all excited at the prospect of sending his paci’s off… “to Spencer”. Nice try! In his mind the paci's are going nowhere. We had also talked about breaking them, but I could totally envision him melting down into hysterics (at a sleepy time) about his broken paci's. So it seems that the disappear "approach" (luck!) has really worked for him. They just went missing and he seems to be more than okay with it. I’m really thinking that maybe this was just his time to let them go.

Carie has a nice stash of Paci's going. She's great at hiding things! Throughout the day she keeps her eyes peeled for Paci's to appear. As she uncovers them she quietly adds them to her collection. Soon they will all end up in the trash, the outdoor trash that is! Or more than likely we'll forget about her stash and discover them 2 1/2 years from now!