No more paci

Well last week Josiah got rid of his paci.  Of all the big boy things he has done this was the only one that has made me a little sad.  I guess because that was the last baby thing that he had (or maybe it was because we had just got him a hair cut and he just looked so big).  He had thrown away most of his pacis this past winter when he kept biting holes in them.  He got down to one left and he stopped biting it.  I really didn't want to force the issue or make a big deal about it bc he only used the paci when he slept.  Last Saturday he told me that his paci sounded funny, and when I looked at it I noticed that it was deteriorating around the end. 

Josiah had been telling me for about a week that he wanted a gun that lights up and a scratcher grabber.  Well I had no idea what a scratcher grabber was but I figured it had to be something that he saw at Wal-Mart so I knew that he would be able to show us if we went to the store.  So the next time that he asked for them I asked him if he wanted to take his paci to the store to buy them.  He said yes.  So Trey and I both explained to him that if he bought toys with his paci that he would never have a paci again.  He said ok that he wanted the toys. 

When we were looking around the mall after we got done playing, we figured out that a scratcher grabber was a tractor grabber.  He showed us a little tractor that had a digger attachment on it and then Trey knew exactly what he was wanting because he had shown him the last time they were in Wal-Mart. 

So we went home and put his paci in a baggie so he could go buy his toys with it.  As we were packing it up he said that Sissy wanted to buy toys with hers too.  I told him that sissy needed to keep hers a little longer and he said OK, hers just a baby.  Then we took the paci to Wal-Mart.

He looked around at all the toys and played with all of them, and then he got his gun that lights up and his tractor grabber.  We again told him that if he bought them with his paci that he would never have a paci again and he said ok. 

I talked to the cashier and told her what we were doing and she said that she would help us out.  So we took the toys and our other stuff up to the check out and Josiah bought his toys then we paid for the rest.  He was so excited to give the lady his paci for his toys.

One the way home I was wondering it I was crazy for letting him buy the gun because it was soo loud.  After we got home we opened both his toys and he played for a little while before he took his nap.  At nap time he did ask for it but we reminded him that he bought his toys with it and it was gone.  We also showed him that he still had paci cat and that we needed to rename it since it no longer had a paci on it.  He decided to name it Catty.  He also asked if he could take his gun with him to nap and we said ok.

That night at bedtime it really started to sink in that he no longer had a paci.  He did cry a little and said that he didn't like toys he liked pacis and that he didn't want to be a big boy that he wanted to be little.  We just reminded him that he was a big boy and that he bought toys with his paci and that he could take them back because he had already played with them.  He was a little upset but not too bad.  He just cried a minute or two and then was fine. He did have to put the gun on his table right next to his bed.   He slept that night just like he did every other night.

Sunday morning he did get up a little earlier than he normally did.  He came to our room with his gun and told us that he didn't have a paci anymore.  I had to make him wait till Elaina got up before he could shoot his gun.  Later at church he was telling everybody that would listen that he didn't have a paci, and that he had a light up gun and a tractor grabber. 

Each night he would ask for his paci and tell us that he liked pacis or that he wanted to be little, but he never really threw a fit for one.  I think it helped that we had him get rid of them and that he replaced them with something that he wanted.  He still will randomly say I like pacis, but he doesn't cry or whine for one.  He hasn't tried to get Elaina's or anything either.  So my big boy is now paci free.