No More Paci!

Jake likes his pacifier. Like....really likes his pacifier. Darrin and I were just saying the other day that it'll probably be tough to wean him off of it whenever we end up doing that. He only has it for bedtime and naps, but still....he loves that thing. I never really cared too much about it. We draw the line at bedtime and nap only (after a year) and I fully believe that he won't be going to prom with a pacifier in his mouth. It's SO not cool to have to take it out before you kiss your date. ;)

Jake also likes to test boundaries. And he tests them a lot. So yesterday, Jake took his pacifier (which he got out of his bed), walked over to the trashcan while I was in the kitchen, looked at me and said "Pie? Throw Pie trash?" I told him, repeatedly, that if he throws it away, then he doesn't get it back -- ever. I explained to him several times that he can choose to throw it in the trash, but if he does, he won't get it for bed or naps anymore. No more paci. And like the little boy he is, he dropped it in the trash. "Bye bye Pie" I said, "Ok Jake! No more pie. You're a big boy now!!" I secretly braced myself for what might be coming that night. I know he didn't totally understand what he just did and was just seeing what I would do if he threw his pacifier away. And today would be an early, but valuable lesson for him in having the freedom to choose but needing to live with those choices. D came home and Jake told him that he threw away his "pie." Darrin praised him a lot but we both were fully expecting a big fight come bedtime.

BUT....I'm excited to say that bedtime came and there wasn't TOO much of a fight at all!! He fussed for a little bit and did ask for his pacifier a couple times. I responded "No Jake. Remember, you threw your pie away. No more pie for Jakey" To which he said "oh-kaayy" (sidenote -- which is the CUTEST thing in the world and I can't get enough of him saying it). The worst part was about 40 minutes after he went down for bed. I thought he was asleep (or maybe he was and he woke up...I don't know) but then I went to check on him and he sat up and started calling for me. He fussed for about 10 minutes and then was quiet again. I started talking on the phone with my mom and he heard me.....and started screaming for me. He cried/screamed for a good 15 minutes or so. :/ But then he went to bed and that was it. He did wake up a couple times that night. Once he fell back asleep pretty quickly. The other time was about 5am-ish and he wanted to come out of his crib. Darrin went in to tell him that it's not time to wake up yet and he got SO MAD. lol That little boy threw a HUGE tantrum in his crib that lasted for a good 45 minutes. He ws not happy. And of course, the madder he got, the firmer we got ("we" read:Darrin, because Jake was calling for me the entire time and I just tried to survive through it. Darrin was the firm one!! Good job, daddy!) I'm sure that if we would have given him a pacifier it would have calmed him down, but we weren't going to do that (and a plus is that he never asked for it either). He eventually calmed down and went back to sleep for a bit. We were tired in the morning but glad that we won the battle of the wills. At least for that night. :)

Today has been another really successful day! Nap, which I was very nervous about, couldn't have gone better and bedtime tonight was a breeze too. I'm not holding my breath that we're totally out of the woods yet, but I'm happy to see that the initial hasn't been as much of a fight as I thought! woohoo!! Now let's just hope he doesn't regress once Brooke comes along! lol :)