I am relieved to say that Annabelle is done with her pacifiers!   Yes, I am aware of the fact that 3 1/2 years old  (okay, almost 4) is a ridiculous age to still have a pacie, however, the truth is I let her keep them that long so that you would feel better about how early you made your kids give them up.  All three of my kids took them until they were almost four years old.  Heck, we bribed Adam with a bike to get rid of his!  (no training wheels either) I  tried to reserve them for the bed and car alone and was successful in doing that for the boys, but, I have been lazier with Annabelle and she has been more insistent for them.  In fact, her pacie-use worsened over the past year and their were plenty of times where she had them at the grocery store or other places in town. 

 

A friend told me  they wouldn't let her daughter have gum until she gave up the pacie, so  I decided it might give Annabelle a little motivation if I took something away versus a bribe.   I told her that I found out children can't have gum if they still use a pacie.   She loves gum and always asks Seth for a piece as soon as she sees him in the evenings after work.   She took the news alright and never questioned or got upset about it.  For the next few days, I made sure to buy the boys gum when we were out and by the third day, she decided she was ready.  She threw them in the trashcan and got her piece of gum. 

I would love to say that was the end of the story, but alas, it had only begun. By mid afternoon, she had changed her mind, and by that evening, she was almost hysterical.  I couldn't go back though, and we have pushed through a long, long week of hours of crying to sleep and then waking up again in the middle of the night to cry some more.  (which made me remember the awful times of waking up with a newborn and being thankful not to have one)  With both boys, I was surprised at how easy it was to wean them, but Annabelle has proven to be the scenario I envisioned and dreaded.I have learned a that it is very important for her to be physically exhausted from the day, yet not to let her stay up too late as that makes the crying last longer.  She has taken to sleeping in her closet but hasn't woken up during the night since the first couple of nights.  Yeah, things are better now and soon those little devilish things will be a distant memory for us all.



As I was taking a picture of her sleeping in the closet the other night, I came out to find Caleb sprawled out asleep in the hallway.  He sleepwalks often and ends up in a different room often.  You can still see a couple of the fake tattoos that have stayed on.   

 

Can't forget little Adam who is peacefully sleeping in his bed too.