Do you see the common denominator in these photos?
The Paci. Ugh. I remember putting it in her mouth when she was a baby for no reason. She wasn't crying or fussy. I was a new Mom and babies love pacifiers, right? So POP - in it went into her mouth and a Paci became her BFF. No blankie, stuffed animal - nothing could replace her precious paci. Especially her red one.
After she turned 2, we told her that her Paci is just for bedtime so they needed to stay in her bed. By the time she was 3, she "needed" one for every possible scenario: tired, scared, hungry, to put in her mouth inbetween bites whilest eating, happy, waking up, falling asleep, riding in the car, it was sunny, it was raining...whatever. I was worried that she was becoming extra clingy with them but I let it slide because the new baby was coming.
The baby came, we were nearing her 4th birthday and she still used her Paci for her mouth. She also wanted to hold one in each hand because she said that they kept them warm. Uh? Well, hand-warmers or not, it was time.
Because Mommy is such a sucker, Daddy had to lay down the law about the Paci. He told her that you are not allowed to have a pacifer when you are four. (Four!?! It just seems so riduclous when I said that out loud.) We told her she could either send them to the hospital for the other babies, or she could throw them in the trash. Clearly she was not concerned about the other babies since she opted for the trash. To commemorate this special occasion, we made a cake to celebrate. Here we are getting the last few moments with her pacifers...
She does look terrified, doesn't she? That is sort of how I felt inside. Part of me was so sick of seeing the dumb thing in her mouth. The other part of me was so emotional because my little baby girl was so big. The other part was scared that she wouldn't be able to sleep without one and she would be waking in the night. Her not-awesome-sleeper brother is up already most nights, so I was anticipating even LESS sleep in the future. And that seemed unconcievable. But, before the cake even cooled, Sienna carried her handful of Pacifiers and dumped them into the trash can. Then she burst into tears. Daniel and I hugged her for about one minute (which might have been a record since she rarely needs nor wants a hug) and that was it. Paci's in the trash. The end. Just when I think I know what she is going to do next, she does something completely unexpected.
