Good-bye evil pacifiers!!!

I've been dreading it for months now, but I knew it was coming. Aubrey was going to have to ditch the paci and I knew that the longer we let her have it the harder it was going to be get rid of it. She had been weaned from it at day care (which I was promptly reminded of one day when I tried to give it to her as I left, but that's a story for a different post). We were working really hard to only give it to her in the car, while we were out shopping, and to sleep. Her 18-month check-up is next week and I knew it would come up in discussion, so I made the decision on Friday to give it the boot from our house. So, we put her to bed on Friday night and all hell broke loose. She has never slept in that crib without that paci and to say she was unhappy without her beloved paci is a major understatement. If she could spit nails at us, I am sure it would have happened. She cried for an hour before she finally gave up and went to sleep. That was such a long hour but I knew it would do no good to give in. She paid us back on Saturday morning by deciding 6:00 AM was a good time to get up when she couldn't find her paci to go back to sleep.
She did ok on Saturday through the first shopping trip to Concord Mills, but there was plenty to keep her mind off it while we were there. The 2nd shopping trip to Northlake didn't go so well because it was getting closer to her bed time and she was bored. She cried about 35 minutes when we put her to bed Saturday, but it didn't help she was overtired from having only 2 20-minute naps. She must have slept longer because we woke up at her normal 7:30, which made for much happier parents. Sunday night was easier and she cried about 20 minutes. Tonight she only cried about 10 minutes but sat in the crib and talked to herself for another 20 minutes. So, I think we are completely done with the paci and I could not be more happy. I hated worrying about it and constantly making sure she had one in reach most of the time. She loved it and it served its purpose for 18 months, but it had overstayed its welcome and will find a place in the trashcan soon! (Just because I took it away from her doesn't mean I am ready to throw it away just yet. It's another sign she's growing up and it makes me a little sad, so I'll just look at it for a few days (ok, or maybe weeks!) before I toss it.)

The paci's good ol' days