Obsessive Little Sucker

From day one, my Boy has been a sucker.

He latched right on and sucked for all he was worth.  My sister gifted us some Nuks and I thanked her repeatedly for them because he would have sucked me 24/7 if I had been amenable to the idea.  I was not.  I am fond of showers and using the toilet alone. 

Anyway.

He just sort of picked up the habit...especially when he was tired.  He wanted that paci and his binket and his Mama (in that order).  And because it made for a calm and happy Boy, we just sort of went along with it.

And then at his 1 year check up the Doc asked about the paci and suggested it was time for it to go away.  I had perfected my smile and nod by this time, so that's just what I did and we went home, he got his paci and went to sleep for his nap.

And so we delayed.  But then we went to New York and saw these parents with FOUR and FIVE year old children with PACIFIERS and I thought, "Oh, it is SO time for that to go away."  And we came home and I had steeled myself for it, but then it was another trip and then we all got sick and then it was the holidays and then ANOTHER trip and then more sick and then another trip and and and, well, I just put it off until it was a better time.

I made a new goal.  By his 2nd birthday, I wanted the paci GONE.  But now I'm looking at the calender and thinking, "Well, we have a family reunion and then potentially a move and everything that goes along with that, all right before his 2nd birthday.  So it's either get rid of it NOW, or wait until we're settled after his birthday."

I just threw out all of the pacis.  I talked to the Boy about it all morning, how they were going to go away.  How he's a big boy and pacis are for BABIES.  How he's brave and strong and he doesn't need that paci any more.  And he really doesn't.  But maybe I do...when I'm stumped and I have no idea what's wrong or what he's saying or what to do for him...it's just so easy to pull out a paci and say, "Hey!  What's this in my hand?!"

I've spent the past few days mourning the loss of my Babe.  I had lamented to one of the secretaries that Chris works with, that the Boy was still a baby when we moved here and sometime over the course of the past few months he's lost all of his baby-ness and now he's 100% grade A certified Big Boy.  So maybe the paci was a crutch for me to hold on to the last vestiges of baby-ness that he had left, I don't know.

All I know is that we've thrown out all of the pacis and we're moving forward into toddler-dom.