Soother

Well, we FINALLY did it!! Took us till she was 3 years and 4 months old but we finally took Norah's soother away! It was like apart of her and we've talked since before she turned 3 about needing to take it away. But I think we were both too chicken to do it and it was kind of sad for me. As much as it annoyed and embarrassed me that she still had it, it was also cute that it was such a vital part of her sleep routine. And in the end it happened kind of abruptly. We were on a 3 hour drive to Elkhorn for a family weekend and Norah had her soother as we were hoping she'd nap in the car (she didn't). Anyway, she told us the soother had a hole in it. And I figured there was no way I was buying her another one (she did have a backup one but I didn't want to think or mention that one). So Nate and I decided then and there that we'd let her have the soother till we got home after the weekend and then that would be it. And I found a used pink scooter online to buy for her "trade" or "reward" (she had been talking for awhile about how she wanted a pink scooter). Tuesday afternoon came and I let her have the soother for resting time and when that was over, I said she could throw it in the garbage or I would. So shse doddled for awhile and really didn't want to get rid of it. Finally she took it over to her craft table and decided to "craft" with it. She cut it with her scissors a few times, wrote on it with markers, then wrapped it up securely in painters tape and threw it in the garbage. At bedtime she did mention it and called me back up and sheepishly said to me "I DO still want my soother." But she made it through and had a not bad night considering. The next day was worse and she was so tired that she did end up crying for her soother at bedtime. And the next morning the first thing she said to me was "maybe there's another soother. maybe I can have the yellow one." (which was the backup one). So i promptly took all backups to work with me that day and threw them out there so she wouldn't find them at home somehow. That day after I picked her up at daycare and we pulled up in the driveway at home she said, "maybe the garbage man will fix my soother and bring it back." But that's about it with the soother. There have been a few comments here or there about it but overall, the transition went MUCH smoother than I anticipated. And her sleeping is definitely no worse without it - in fact I'd almost say it's been better (however, now i'm sure I'll be up with her for a few hours tonight!).

So that was the last sign it felt like to me that my baby is no longer a baby. She's gone through the 3 transitions that seemed so big in my mind only a year ago - she's in her big bed all the time, she's potty trained and she no longer has her soother. So happy about it all, but a bit sad, too at the same time.

Here's a picture of Norah with her new little scooter!