Courtright Family: No More Paci!

Last month was a big month of change for Kaitlynn. She finally moved out of her baby crib and into a big girl bed! We had been meaning to move her into a bed for a while, but it took me some time to decide what I wanted to do with her room and what type of furniture she would need. I'm still trying to put the finishing touches on her room, but I hope to post pics soon of her big girl room.

As part of the transition to her new bed, we knew it was time for Kaitlynn to finally give up her pacifier. For the past year or more, she only ever used the paci at home during bedtime and naptime. But she just LOVED her paci! We've been talking to her for a while about trading her paci for a big girl toy, and she would get excited and say she was ready every time we mentioned it. We decided to wait until after our Florida vacation, just to make sure the transition was as easy as possible.

After we returned from Florida, we reminded Kaitlynn again about giving up her paci. We told her that pacis are for babies and that she needed to give her paci to a baby since she was a big girl now. With fortunate timing, Kaitlynn's best friend, Anais, had just become a big sister again to her newborn brother Joshua. Since he was the only baby we knew, we talked to Kaitlynn about giving her paci to Anais's baby brother Joshua. She seemed to understand that and was more than ready to give her paci to him, mostly because she was ready to go pick out a special big girl toy from the toy store.

We weren't able to visit baby Joshua right away, so we told Kaitlynn that we needed to mail her paci to him. I found an envelope and Jeff tried to explain to Kaitlynn about mailing her paci to baby Joshua. She said goodbye to her paci and then placed it in the envelope. Then they walked solemnly to the mailbox. It was quite the serious occasion.

Placing her paci in the envelope for baby Joshua.

The quiet, solemn walk to the mailbox.

She placed the paci inside, and then she waved and said "Bye bye, paci!"

She was very sad and needed reassurance from Daddy.

Kaitlynn was very brave and didn't look back once her paci was in the mailbox. We went inside and Kaitlynn said it was time to go get her big girl prize for giving her paci to the baby. So we all loaded up and drove to Toys R Us for her to pick out something special. On the drive to the toy store, Kaitlynn suddenly said, "Daddy, I not a big girl" followed by "I not happy with you anymore!" Uh-oh, she was having second thoughts about giving away her paci. We needed a new toy diversion and we needed it quickly.

Finally we made it to the toy store and Kaitlynn seemed excited about picking out a special prize for herself. She roamed up and down all of the girl aisles and looked at everything carefully. Jeff, Connor, and I tried to help by steering her towards baby dolls, Barbies, princess dolls, and even dress-up clothes, but she refused to look at anything we suggested. She was on a mission.

Eyeing the baby doll speculatively.

Checking out an Olivia toy with Connor's help.

Finally, I saw something that caught my eye up on a higher shelf. It was a bag full of princess toy hair accessories: blow dryer, brush, curling iron, flat iron, and even a lipstick. I showed it to Kaitlynn and she immediately grabbed it and said "Yes!" That was the toy for her. Somehow I figured she'd like it because she's always wanting to fix her hair and makeup like Mommy does every morning. :-)

Kaitlynn's big girl prize: a princess hair accessory kit!

Can I just say, I found it so amusing to see what Kaitlynn picked for her prize. This time 3 years ago, Connor was picking out his own big boy prize and he settled on a 20-pack of Matchbox cars. Jeff and I both just continue to marvel at the differences between boys and girls!

After Kaitlynn decided on her hair toys, it was time to check out. She walked up to the counter by herself and handed over her selection. She was overjoyed with her toys!

Time to check out.

No more paci for this happy big girl!

Of course when we got home, Kaitlynn was anxious to open her hair accessories and play with them. They were quite the hit! She fixed her hair, my hair, and even all her babydolls' hair. To this day, she carries those toys around with her and loves to play with them. I think she made a great choice!

Brushing her hair.

Applying lipstick.

Her favorite toy in the kit: the working blow dryer, just like Mommy's!

And now for the aftermath. Despite being thrilled with her big girl toy selection, Kaitlynn almost immediately began to feel sad about no longer having her paci. On the way home from the toy store, Kaitlynn began saying, "I miss my paci." We kept reminding her how lucky she was to have her new big girl toys. We were worried about bedtime and how she would do without her paci.

That night was tough. Kaitlynn was crying pathetically and missing her paci. She took her toys to bed with her, but she really had a hard time sleeping without the paci. I went in to console her at one point. As I held her, I said, "Aren't you happy that you gave your paci to baby Joshua so that he can have a paci now?" And she replied through her tears, "And Joshua give it back to me!" It definitely tugged at my heartstrings to hear her so sad that night.

Over the next several days, Kaitlynn had a little trouble going to bed but she had her hair accessories on her nightstand to remind her that she was a big girl now. She still catches me off guard sometimes when she mentions her paci out of the blue. She'll say, "I miss my paci" and once when I asked her why she misses it, she told me, "It makes me feel better." Broke my heart!

Overall, the transition wasn't too bad and now she is doing great without her paci. She likes to remind me that baby Joshua has her paci now because he's a baby and she's a big girl. Incidentally, we were able to visit Joshua about a week after Kaitlynn gave her paci away. She was quite enamored with him so I think that softened the blow a bit. ;-)