Papi Update

This is long and probably boring to all of you. But I want to put it here for memory's sake:

Every one has told us "getting rid of the paci will not be as hard as you think it will be." Avery Claire threw her papi to the fish, we loaded up the car, and she fell asleep without a peep on the way home. I was thinking {very prematurely}, "Wow, who knew she could do that so easily and then fall asleep so fast without it?!"

Ha! She woke up as soon as I got her out of the car and screamed her head off when I laid her in her bed. After over an hour of her crying, leaning over the bed trying to get out, and begging for her papi, we gave up on a nap. But we did not give in and give her a paci. Okay....I'll admit that I did give her a paci that I cut the tip off of. She threw it down immediately. After she had thoroughly searched all of the places that she knew we kept pacis, she realized they were really gone. The paci fairy had come while we were gone and left her a little elephant blankie that she can hold on to while she falls asleep. She was so proud of it and so proud that she gave her papis to the pish! And we were seriously dreading bedtime {and praying she'd be so tired from only getting a 15 minute nap that she wouldn't cry for long.

We made a promise that if she went to bed like a big girl and didn't cry, we'd go buy a new baby doll first thing the next morning. She laid her little self in that bed and didn't make a peep. She did wake up right before 6 the next morning and we did sleep in the recliner for a couple of hours after that, but we were proud of that accomplishment!
She was so proud when she realized that she "waked up" and we could go get a new baby {which turned into a stroller and a baby}. If you know her, you know she was 10 times more excited about the stroller than the baby!

 

Wednesday, I held for her two minutes, she fell asleep and I laid her down and she took a great nap. Wednesday night, there were some tears and I stood by her bed while she fell asleep. Thursday morning, she woke up at 5:3? and there was a lot of drama and crying and trying to get her back to sleep for 2 hours. She finally fell asleep standing up with her head and arms propped on her bedrail right as I walked in to just get her up.

We kept talking up how big she was and how proud we were. She was so proud of herself all day long. And then came naptime. OMG. There are no words. It. was. dreadful. I pray to God that's as bad as it gets. Thursday night and Friday went really well. She knows how to stall and ask for one more baby/one more book/ etc, but she went to sleep quickly and easily. Today, there were some tears at naptime {and she slept in her "shop shops"}, but bedtime went great.

I know it's a process and I pray that it gets easier. I can't imagine how we can keep up these bedtime shenanigans. And her little bed cannot hold another baby/book/ball/toy. But I'm so proud of how hard she has tried. She is so proud of herself and when I tell her how proud I am of her, she loves to tell me how "Daddy's proud." And "_________'s proud {and she lists everyone who's proud of her}".

I will never, ever, ever, however, tell someone that getting rid of the paci is easier than you think it will be. It was just as hard as we thought it would be. I know, though, it'll be worth it and we'll look back in a couple of weeks and laugh about how traumatic it was. {dear God, please let us look back in a couple of weeks and laugh about how traumatic it was!!!!!}