Bye Bye Paci's...

Yep, bye bye paci's...it's so bittersweet to type that.  What a huge accomplishment, though, for a little girl who has been comforted by her paci's since the first day she was born.  Literally.  In NICU, they use paci's to help get preemie's to practice the art of sucking, since that is not usually "learned" in the womb until around week 37.  So when you are born at 35 weeks, sweet NICU nurses attempt to teach you to suck / swallow / breathe outside the womb.  And Kinsley loved her paci from the start.  Seems like that was just yesterday...


Kinsley's paci has always been present.  I don't think that we have gone anywhere without one in at least arms reach in case of meltdown from a tired / cranky baby or toddler.  She sleeps - I mean slept (past tense) - with no less than 3 in her crib or bed.  When she was little, it was not uncommon to see her with a paci hooked to her bib, shirt or swimsuit with her little paci-clip.  We took many-a-photos with paci present, sometimes getting in the way of her sweet smile.  It was common to see her fall asleep in one in her mouth and one in each hand.  She never took to a stuffed animal or "lovie" that she had to take everywhere with her and fall asleep with...it always was, and always has been, just her paci's.


But last Thursday night, out of nowhere, after a successful poopie in the potty & bath as we were getting ready for bedtime, I asked Kinsley if she still needed her paci's..."Big girls go potty in the big potty and don't need their paci's!" I said, sort-of flippantly.  "Do you want me to just throw these in the trash can?" "Okaaay..." she replied, catching me completely off guard.  I immediately backpedaled.  I mean, I couldn't just throw them in the trash can!  So I said, "Kinsley, do you want to give them to baby Carter?" and once again, she replied "Okaaay!" and hopped off her bed and marched right into what will be the nursery (which she already sweetly refers to as "baby's room") and dropped two paci's right into the crib.  Then she marched back into her room and we high-fived.  That night, she finally fell asleep - albeit, it took a little longer than normal - sans the paci's.  Then the next day at school, same thing, no paci for her nap and she slept for an hour and a half.  And just like that.  That was the end of the paci's.  This trend continued all weekend.  A team effort by mommy, daddy, BeeBe, MayMay, and her teacher at school = to resist that sweet face asking for her paci before bedtime or nap time.  Everyone knew the response about her giving them to the baby, and Kinsley, my strong little trooper, seemed to understand each time.

What we didn't anticipate was a 102 fever that hit Kinsley later this past weekend, her first time with Strep Throat, and as I discovered when she was crying with her mouth wide open at the doctor, her back molars breaking through the surface of her little gums.  Ugh, I knoooow, seriously, what a weekend to begin "Operation Bye-Bye-Paci," right?  But as much as I wanted to give her a paci 'cause she wasn't feeling good, I knew that we couldn't go backwards.  We were already days into a successful start.  So here we are, a week later, and while she's still not 100% well, she has almost stopped asking for her paci's completely.  They have been cleaned and stored way up high in a cabinet in a ziplock bag.  'Cause mommy doesn't have the heart to throw them out.  They were one of the last things that was keeping my big girl as my baby.  I am so proud of my girl.  All we have left is the transition out of diapers (who knows when that will happen) and she will be 100% big girl.  Makes me sad and happy all at the same time...relieved & proud, yet anxious, 'cause I know there's a whole new baby experience arriving in just four short months.