Karsyn "growed up"

We have big news at our house...Karsyn has given up her paci!!!! For those of you that know our little girl, she LOVED her paci. At 2 years the doctor told us that we needed to go ahead and get her to give it up because she was beginning to have front teeth problems. At that point though, she had just had her world turned completely upside down when her little brother arrived, so we didn't feel like we could take away her comfort item. We decided to just keep it from her during the day but to let her have it at night time and nap time. (This also worked GREAT to get her to want to nap or go to bed. She was thrilled to get her paci so she'd run and put herself in bed!)

I've been talking to her for a while about needing to give up her paci. We've talked about who she could give it to- the fish we saw at the beach, to a baby we know, to Josie our dog, and many other options. None of those worked for her so I just stopped talking about it. She loves the movie Open Season and in one scene, the bear is sad that he is away from home. He is missing his Mommy and he has his teddy bear. Karsyn started saying how the bear needed his paci, so I began talking about how we could give our paci to the bear. We talked about how she didn't need it now that she was a big girl and how he would love it. We've mentioned it every now and then for the last month or so.


When she woke up Friday morning, she said she was going to give her paci to the bear. I asked her if she was sure and she said yes. I debated all morning about what to do and finally just decided to go for it. I told her that we were going to mail it to Mr. Bear. First I took her picture with her paci. I just loved watching her with it sometimes. I can't believe she's growing up so fast...Here's the pic of her with her favorite pink paci.

Then we put it into an envelope and addressed it to Mr. Bear.

 I had Karsyn dictate to me exactly what she wanted me to write in her note to Mr. Bear.

Then we sealed it up and walked it to the mailbox. She didn't hesitate and put it straight into the mailbox, then walked back in. She didn't look back.

She has done better than we expected. That first afternoon nap was tough- she cried off an on for two hours before she fell asleep. The strange part was- she has never asked for her 'paci' since we mailed it. She asks for Mommy or Daddy or Marcus or Kara (when she's desperate), but never her paci. That first evening without it she went straight to sleep. It's now been 3 days and nap time is still really hard. In fact, right now I'm listening to both her and Mack crying in their rooms, but we're getting through it. 

After Karsyn gave her paci to Mr. Bear, he has been leaving her surprises on the front porch. She has gotten a doctor's kit, a Dora the Explorer backpack toy, and a Dora placemat with gummies. This helped a lot because it gave her something to look forward to after naptime or when she wakes up in the morning. The first morning she woke up without her paci, she told me, "Mommy, I growed up". Yes, I'm afraid she did a little.


Karsyn Rose- I can't believe how fast you are growing! You are a brave, strong girl and we are so very proud of you!