a funny story

2 days ago, I was fed up with Jackson's ears not working, so I swiped his pacifier out of his mouth (he wasn't supposed to have it anyway because it's only for naps and bedtime) and told him he was too big for a pacifier, that it was obviously not helping him to be a good listener. Parker was already home from work and definitely backed me on this (he has WAY LESS patience for the "non-functioning ears syndrome" than I do). However, he (Parker) started to soften and question my spur-of-the-moment decision when we were getting ready for bed and Jackson started asking for his pacifier.

Parker: Are you really serious about not giving it to him at all?

Me: Yep. It's going to be hard regardless of when we do it and I'm not making pie crust promises with him. He needs to know we're serious. (that is definitely one of our favorite Mary Poppins references in case you wanted to know)

Parker: It's going to be a rough night!

Me: Probably. I'll take care of it.

Jackson eventually went to sleep by about 8:30pm (1/2 hour after his bedtime). He got up (this is NOT usual) at 11:30pm AND 1:30am "to go to potty", which he did and then in a whiney voice begged me for his pacifier. I held firm to my claim that I had thrown them in the garbage and that he was too big for pacifiers now. I didn't see him again until 7am the next morning.

Nap time came and he was adamant (for about 45 minutes) that he needed his pacifier, that he didn't want to throw it away and that he didn't want to be too big for it. It was sad, but I DID NOT want to retract. Eventually, he fell asleep.

Bedtime came that night (now 26 hours without a pacifier) and he was insistent again, but so were we. He fell asleep without it... imagine that!

Around 3:30am, I thought I heard Kate crying in my dream (I have a hard time waking up when I'm in my deep sleep), but Parker took care of her and a minute later was back in bed. It's pretty uncommon for this girl to interrupt her sleep, but she has been teething really badly, so we thought maybe that was the reason she couldn't sooth herself to sleep.

We all woke up late and I thought to myself, wow it's 7:15am and Jackson slept the whole night without his pacifier! Just after Parker walked out the door at 7:40am, Jackson came walking out of his room, nothing in mouth or hand (he usually has at least one of his puppies). I got him his cup of milk (as per morning tradition) and got him settled on the couch, then went and got Kate who was talking in her room. I gave Kate her bottle and went into Jackson's room to get his puppies that he had asked for. There on his pillow was one of Kate's pacifiers! Jackson was the culprit who had woken Kate up at 3:30am. It all made sense now. He knew we were NOT giving in, so he problem solved at 3:30 in the morning, snuck into his sister's room and borrowed one of her pacifiers. Unfortunately he was a little too loud and woke Kate up, but was quick enough that neither Parker nor I had a clue that he was out of his bed. He was also smart enough NOT to come out of his bedroom with Kate's pacifier in his mouth.

It's amazing how smart a 2-1/2 year old can be!!

I promptly re-located Kate's pacifiers, so we'll see how tonight goes. As frustrating as this can be, it totally beats potty-training (which he mastered already, thank goodness!) and is DEFINITELY easier than trying to keep an attached thumb out of a child's mouth!

[Sorry I don't have a picture to go with this post, but the story was too funny not to record.]