"Let's Give It To Mae"

May I introduce Mae. Ethan's sweet cousin and our tool to get rid of Ethan's paci. 

I knew that it was time for Ethan to be done with the paci. Let's face it, he should have been done a year ago. But honestly, I am just not that mom that cares that much. Until one day I looked back in the rearview and he looked like a giant in that carseat with a big paci hanging out of his mouth. SILLY! 

So, Bryan and I decided that Spring Break would be it. He is NO WHERE CLOSE to potty training so, I wanted to tackle at least one obstacle. We told him that paci's were for babies, and he is almost 3 so he is almost a big boy. I asked him to think of babies he knows and he said "Mae!" Perfect. I said, "well lets call Lala and see if Mae could use a paci." As I called my sister, I just prayed not only that she would answer, but that she would be sitting at home just waiting for us to come over. 

Luckily they were home, and were up for being part of this. We loaded in the car and went to Mae's to give her the paci. He was frustrated that his 6 week old cousin wasn't shoving the nasty paci into her mouth. He kept saying" Here Mae.. here is the paci.. I am a big boy now." As much as I am glad that that nasty thing is gone, I did shed a few tears watching up give it to her. It's just another reminder that a stage is ending for him. Time is flying WAY faster than I would like. So I cling to each day and love every phase.. the good the bad and the insane. 

The follow up was much easier than I thought. He went right now to nap without it. At night he asked for it for bed, and I reminded him that we gave it to Mae. "Well," he said "then let's go to her house and go get it from her." After I reminded him that he doesn't need it anymore, he went right to bed. And it's been a perfect dream over since. 

Now... potty training... that's a different story.