We survived another milestone

Let me preface this post by saying that yes, we are “those” parents who let their 2 and a half year old still use a pacifier. Shoot me, but there’s worse things a parent could do right? She only gets it at bedtime and on “sick” days when she needs some extra TLC (oh and on car trips when I need some PAQ—that’s peace and quiet). She doesn’t lug a “blankie” around or suck her thumb or any of those other things that many toddlers do.

We had slowly wittled her supply down to 1 pacifier. She has this habit of gnawing on the pacifiers which causes them to tear, at which point I tell her she’s broken it and toss it in the trash. So….we were down to 1 and determined to not go out and enable her habit with any new pacis when this last one bit the dust.

So there we were last night at 8 o’clock….all comfy and cozy on the couch with blankets and popcorn to watch the 2 hour premiere of Grey’s Anatomy. Makenzie has kindly extended her bedtime these days to AT LEAST 9 pm, so she was watching with us. And then it happened….”Mommy, I broke it.” Gasp…”you did what?!” And she brings it to me—her last paci, with a chunk bitten off of it.

Tim and I lock eyes with panic vibes passing in the air between us. It’s 8pm on a weeknight and we don’t have a paci to get us through the night. God help us, please. Our first instinct is to make a run to the nearby Walgreens, Kroger, Walmart, CVS—anywhere that has pacis—but then we resolve ourselves to muscle through it.

9pm rolls around and Daddy tells Kenzie it’s time to kiss Mommy good night and head for the bed. She lets out the usual protests, but reluctantly kisses me and is carried away to her waiting bed filled with bears and baby dolls. She continues her protests and cries of “Mommy, I need sip of water” for about 30 minutes and then we hear it…..the telltale sign that she’s in dreamland…..silence, blessed silence.

We finished watching Grey’s Anatomy and tiptoe up the stairs where I perform my usual paranoid mommy check of the sleeping kiddo. There she is, sound asleep across her big brown bear’s tummy with no pacifier. And there she stayed all night until 5:20am when she appeared at our door saying “Mommy, can’t find my paci.”

So, we survived our first night paci-free…..my baby girl is growing up!