yesterday, luke had his 15-month doctor appointment. he's growing. he has an ear infection (again). he got a shot.
but the most traumatic part of the appointment, unknown to luke, is that dr. nale said it is time to give up the woobie.
my heart fell.
lukie has been attached to his woobie (aka pacifier) since he was only a few weeks old. i gave it to him in desparation one afternoon when he wouldn't quit crying and he has loved it ever since. he sleeps with his arm tucked around fluppy, one woobie in his mouth and one in his hand.
i knew this day would come, but i'd hoped that it would be his decision to let go of this little comfort, not daddy and mommy snatching it from him. but, in addition to potentially affecting his speech, children who use pacifiers after 12 months of age are more likely to get sick, according to dr. nale. so with that, michael and i decided the woobie would be on its way out.
the doctor said it would take a couple days for luke to adjust, but that he's resilient and it would be harder for us than for him. we could give up the woobie cold turkey, slowly cut off the nipple until he couldn't hold it in his mouth, put it out of reach and constantly tell him no when he asks for it. none of those sound like good options to me.
i mentioned to michael that we could let thursday be the last day for the woobie so that he had all weekend to adjust before going back to MDO on monday. but, when michael emerged from luke's room last night after laying him down to sleep, the woobie was in his hand.
i was shocked. and honestly, really sad.
my little boy isn't a baby anymore. he's growing up. tomorrow he'll be in kindergarten and next week he'll be moving off to college, not needing me to cuddle him or kiss his boo-boos or fix his breakfast. though maybe still wash his laundry.
i know the point of parenting is to grow up little independent people who are capable of taking care of themselves and, one day, someone else.
i just didn't realize it would come so fast.
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7 comments:
what a sweet little guy! keaton was 11 months when we took his away. and after sienna (our 2nd) had her pacifier until 14 months and was COMPLETELY attached to it at that point, we decided we would never again allow a child to have it past 12 months. it worked great with reagan. i think she was about 9 months.
sometimes i wonder if i'm a bad mom for not cherishing those little things about childhood. oftentimes i want to rush my kids into growing up, but then, when all of a sudden they ARE growing up - and quickly! - i wonder what i was thinking.
yes, times flies. welcome to parenthood! :)
Awww, sweet boy! What a blessing he is! It's great to hear from you again! :)
Emma had her paci until she was 22 months. She loved that thing. We finally had to 'break' it and show her. She was very sad, but she got over it a lot quicker than I thought. Now she's attached to her blankie. :)
Sounds like Luke is a great little boy. They grow up way too fast!
I will be glued here to see how it goes day to day. I know we need to break W of the bottle and formula in the next week. May avoid Dr. Nale till I'm ready to do it.
Awww! John Mark was the mean one who took Caleb's away and I think I hid under the covers so I would not hear him cry for it. Caleb quickly adopted the blankets whitey, bluey and greeny and still talks about whitey till this day. Guess what color they were? :) Love you lots and hope you are doing well.
Cute blog banner!
It's nice that you have so many encouraging comments on the pacifier. My kids were thumb suckers. That takes about three weeks to break. I guess you could count your blessings that you should be through this in a few days! : ) I do agree with Heidi, though, in that the longer you wait the harder it gets.
Congrats too on your marathon! What an accomplishment!
will you be blogging again?
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