No More Passies!

She has graduated from the pacifier, finally!  With all my other babies, I helped them put away childish things, i.e. pacifiers, bottles, etc. . . shortly after they turned one year old.  And for good reason too, because usually there was another "baby" on the way and the current baby needed to grow up and become a big girl/boy. 

But Kate is still our baby, now heading towards 3 years old.  So she still sleeps in a crib, because no one else has booted her out.  And up until two weeks ago, she was still totally and completely addicted to her "passies".  This past six months, we've tried to keep them in her crib and let her use them only for  bedtimes.  But frequently, she'd somehow get ahold of them and hide in the corner while sucking away.  Comfort.  Pure comfort!

As I was christmas shopping at Target one day and going through the toy section, Kate noticed a princess baby doll and wanted to hold it.  Without thinking, I said, "You can have that princess baby when you're ready to give up your passies". 

So for the next few weeks, she would frequently ask me about going to the store and giving the store worker her passie so she could get the princess baby.  We talked about it with the kids, and they each visited about it with Kate. 

Finally, when she said she was ready, we found all the pacifiers in the house and drove to Target.  While in the store, she kept putting them into her mouth, then I would remind her that she was a big girl and that she shouldn't put them in her mouth. She'd pull it out and say, "I'm just kissing it bye bye" and would give it kisses.  So funny!

We found the baby she wanted, went to the counter, and while Abby distracted Kate, I explained what was going on to the store clerk and paid for the baby.  Then Kate came up and stood on the counter, kissed her passies one more time, then very solomnly, almost tearful, she handed them to the clerk as the clerk called her a big girl and handed the baby to her.  Sounds funny, but it was a little emotional for me.  I could tell that it pulled at Kate's emotions.

Since then, we've had a few rough nights.  But I felt like Kate was old enough and aware enough to remember the experience and reason with me.  "Remember Kate, you gave your passies to the store worker at Target. So now you can snuggle with your princess baby instead of your passies."

Now she's a big girl.  But still, my baby.