Koh, Banky, Papi, Emmo and Choo Choo. That's All I Need.

Sucking on his paci while sleeping in the carrier as we hike along the Eno River.

I had a fellow mommy tell me that 18 months is a good cut-off time for the pacifier. She had her wee one quit the paci cold turkey on his 18 month birthday...and he slept 12 hours straight, or something amazing like that. Stan B started his life with sugar water pacifiers (thanks NICU! {sarcasm}) Then at home he wouldn't take it because a) it wasn't sweet like the NICU's pacis and b) BOOB! I was o.k. with him being anti-paci...I was sort of proud that he was anti-paci. Then his first teeth popped through and all of a sudden he loved the pacifier.

We only gave him the paci at night for maybe a total of 3 weeks of his life; he would pacify mostly during the day. He could even go days without using it. So, he wasn't hooked. I kind of wish we took it away from him back then. But no. He uses it now more than ever. I would even say he is slightly obsessed with it. He will see it lying on the couch or the table and point at it and say, "Papi! Papi!" It's awfully cute. Several nights ago I suggested...no, I told Mike that we are going to stop with the pacifier because for the first time ever Stan B was going to bed and he said, "Papiiiiiiiiii!" in the most sad/sweet voice. It was strange because he doesn't sleep with it. I felt bad but stuck to my guns and told him he would have to figure out another way to help himself fall asleep. Yes, mean ol' Mommy - but I don't want him to depend on that for sleeping. I think he should learn how to fall asleep without any aids. 

Sleeping with Cow Star and Blanky

 So, Monday was day 1 of no paci. In the morning he said, "Papi!" and told him that we were not going to use paci anymore. I distracted him with a book. It was a daddy day care day and Mike reported to me when I got home from work that he was way more energetic and talkative than normal, which makes complete sense. He wasn't pacified. Mike's guess was that he would fall asleep more easily and sleep longer, if not through the night. He did fall asleep easily and woke at 2:50 am rather than midnight. Last night he fell asleep easily again!

Stan B can also sorta say Cow Star...He basically says something like, "Koh". He loves that thing. LOVES. He still makes the sign for Cow Star too. In the last month and a half or so he's grown attached to a blue, orange and white striped blanket that I call blanky. Yesterday morning for the first time he woke up, got out of bed and said, "Banky!" 

Holding "banky" tight.

One evening before bed, a couple of weeks ago, I said, let's look for Cowy. He made his sign for Cow Star. We found her and he held her. He saw blanky and grabbed it. He saw paci and wanted it. For some reason (maybe Mike pushed his hand to make him talk) Stan B wanted Elmo too (he says Elmo, "Emmo"). So we grabbed Elmo. Then he said "Choo Choo" and I told him that we can read that before bed (It's his book, The Little Red Caboose, that he's currently obsessed with.) But I felt like I was carrying around Navin R. Johnson a.k.a., The Jerk - the movie with Steve Martin. Particularly the scene when Steve Martin's character is leaving his mansion saying, 

"Well I'm going to go then! And I don't need any of this. I don't need this stuff, and I don't need *you*. I don't need anything. Except this. [picks up an ashtray] And that's the only thing I need is *this*. I don't need this or this. Just this ashtray... And this paddle game. - The ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need... And this remote control. - The ashtray, the paddle game, and the remote control, and that's all I need... And these matches. - The ashtray, and these matches, and the remote control, and the paddle ball... And this lamp. - The ashtray, this paddle game, and the remote control, and the lamp, and that's all *I* need..." 

But in Stan B's case he is saying, 

"I'm going to bed then! And I don't need anything. Except this, [picks up Cow Star] And that's the only thing I need is this. I don't need this or this. Just this Koh...and this Banky. The Koh and Banky and that's all I need...And this Papi. Koh, Banky and this Papi, and that's all I need...And Emmo. Koh, Banky, Papi, and Emmo, that's all I need...and Choo Choo. Koh, and Banky, and Papi, and Emmo and Choo Choo, and that's all I need....Milk!"

and so on. Ha! 

I'll keep you posted on the new no-paci-policy.