Uh Oh...

The moment has finally come.

We knew it would.

I just didn't know if we'd be ready when it happened.

I know Alexander's not ready - he proved that tonight.

The pacifier went buh-bye.

Yesterday, Alexander pulled out his pacifer and gave it to me but kept picking at it. I noticed that it was icky and that it wouldn't be much longer before it gave way. So I boiled it & cleaned it to try to make it better for him. I got home tonight and Dan pointed out the 'uh oh' factor. His pacifier got a whole in it. He's been sucking on it for so long that it was bound to break eventually. Now he has several other pacifiers - three of them are IDENTICAL to his current one. However, he refuses to use them. He knows that they're not HIS pacificer. They sound different, they smell different, and feel different. He won't even touch one of them.

We decided not to give him his current one because we don't want plastic breaking off and having him choking/swallowing it. So - he has two options. Get used to a new one which is the same kind or go without. We put both of his identical pacifiers in his crib tonight with him, but he kept refusing them.

The poor little guy was tired almost exhausted but he wouldn't fall asleep. He couldn't get comfortable no matter what he tried. I cuddled with him, then I put him in his crib and rubbed his back for about 20 minutes. I left and it was okay. Then 3 minutes later he screamed. He cried for 10 minutes. Finally I couldn't bare it anymore so I went back in to try to calm him down. I was in there for 25 minutes. I was convinced he was about to fall asleep several times. But alas no. Then he stood up and wanted to play. So I laid him down and rubbed his back again. I tried to sneak out but he wanted no part of that.

Dan went in this time. He was in there for 10 minutes and came out with a quiet Alexander. I was in awe. Then about 10 minutes later, Alexander started screaming again. I let him cry for about 5 minutes to see if he would calm himself down. No luck. I went up and rocked him to sleep. He fell asleep at 8:30. That's super late for him! It's now 9:45p and he's still asleep...fingers crossed.

Fingers crossed for the first day in the car without his pacifier!