BUH paci...for good FINALLY!!

AHHHH, so many of you have known that Josh and I have been struggling with the "paci" issue for a few months now.

I honestly didn't have a problem with it at all until he turned 3...then i started thinking, he's getting to be too big for this thing. BUT...we were still in such transition with our move that I thought...it's such comfort for him during all this change, i'll let it slide. And mind you...it wasn't constant...but he did want it during naptime, bedtime...and when he was just tired. Still, it was still a nuisance keeping up with it and let's be honest, it's gotta end sometime!!

Well, then we move into our house...and we've been in here for 3 months now...and he'll be 4 come December: it's time to say BUH to the paci. :)

As silly as it sounds...i asked some friends to pray over this for us bc i was totally dreading the cutoff process...bc yeah, it helped me too when he was tired ...it'd soothe him to sleep quickly.

So...after consulting multiple friend's advice, and looking at strategies online, i combined all this advice amd knowledge into a plan that would work for us. :)

Since we do have a baby on the way, that was a great segue...to tell him that we need to say bye bye to our paci bc the baby is going to need them (maybe...who knows if this next one will even take one, ha!) and he is the big brother now, and he doesn't need it any longer.

So...we talked about this for a few weeks...telling him soon he'd hafta say BUH to it, and there was some tears and you could tell he was starting to grieve it...ahhh, it was truly so hard as a parent to watch your lil one so sad and sensitive over this innocent little thing...(sigh) but such is life and growing up i suppose.

So...one morning last week...i had to ship some stuff and had to run to UPS and asked him if he was ready to ship off his paci's...he shockingly said yes. So we decorated an envelope and drove to UPS and "shipped" them off. (hee hee...the young guy that worked there thought i was a loon i am sure...but who cares!!! Off they went...freeeeeedom!!!!) Here he is...still not truly understanding what he was doing i don't think. :)
I knew it truly wouldn't hit him till later...but, so far so good. he seemed to truly get it....until naptime that day. UGH...tears tears tears...it was hard, i'm not gonna lie. But, after about 30-40 minutes...he was asleep. whew....

That happened again that night...and Josh and I learned that the paci truly soothed him to sleep...and it quieted him and settled him quickly. We were seeing that he wasn't falling asleep as quickly, and was in there singing, yelling, talking etc...shall i say, the paci shut him up??!!? He aslo clung tighter to both of his blankies, and blue bear, and zebra and giraffe, but i didn't mind that so much. But truly, each day that went by, it got easier and easier and the long loved treasured paci seemed to be forgotten. AHHHH! Have my prayers been answered? Lord, you are faithful even in these little trials of parenthood!

Part of the deal was that if he gave up the paci, he could go to one his all time favorite places, Chuck E. Cheese, and bring a friend. (thanks for that great idea Kimbo!) :)

So, he chose his buddy Izak from MDO (they have just been instant friends! too sweet!) and here they are hyped up on sugar and pizza, trying to get as many tickets as possible. How cute are they together? AHHHH, my baby is getting so big...he and his lil friend were like all on their own, running around and having their own lil conversation.

Ok, Jackson was really good at skiball!

What to choose with our tickets? Decisions Decisions!
Out of all the choices, they choose laffy taffy and air heads candy - classic!

Ben and Daddy were just as excited about their candy - HA!
*To my Jackson - i am SOOO proud of you for taking this huge step. I watched your lil brain at work as you truly rationalized this big boy decision, and what it would mean. I sat and grieved it too, and now I am convinced that you are truly ready to be a big brother....as you're growing up and becoming such a BIG BOY. I love you and am proud of your big choice son!

Thanks to those who covered this in prayer for us...i truly believe God was a part of this whole process.

Until next time...

Sal