One Down, One To Go

Hunter will be 3 in March, and  he still uses the two things that are "supposed to" be gone by the time your kid turns 3...diapers and pacis.  My plan had always been to potty train first and then get rid of the pacis.  Hunter just loves his pacis so, so much that I was dreading the day I had to rip him of that joy. 

But we are going nowhere fast with the potty training.  He'll sit on it...He'll stare down into it to make sure nothing's coming out...He loves to flush it...Two or three times he's let some drops of pee enter into it.  That's as far as it goes, though. 

So last week James and I decided the kid is probably still going to be in diapers on his 3rd birthday. (Even though I keep telling him they don't make diapers for 3 year olds to which he responds, "I use potty in March."  Right.  Because he has such a good understanding of what March is.) So our only choice is to take away the beloved pacis.

Today we took him to the store to exchange the pacis for a toy (thanks Julie!  got that idea from you!).  Here's how it went...

Once we pulled into the Target parking lot, we let him have all four of his pacis.  Of course he had to smell them for a while.  (I know it's strange, but he does this every night to put himself to sleep...sucks on one and smells the other.  Sometimes he'll even balance the one he's smelling on his nose instead of holding it up with his hand.  I love his quirkiness).

When we got to the toy section, we went up and down all of the aisles and he pointed out different toys that caught his eye.  First he saw a handy manny computer.  Then a firetruck...

Then a gumball machine...

And several other toys that I didn't photograph and of course now can't remember.  Ultimately, he decided he wanted the handy manny laptop computer.  So we went back to it and took him out of the shopping cart so he could leave his pacis on the shelf and pick up his new toy.  He was really excited, but had no idea at this point that the pacis were gone forever...

We started to walk away, and he exclaimed, "My pacis!!!" as he ran over to grab them and quickly put one in his mouth...

(Of course he chose the only one that was touching the nasty Target shelf to put into his mouth.)

We explained that the pacis were staying there and we were taking the laptop home instead because he was such a big boy! and big boys don't need pacis! and we were so, so proud of him!!!  Surprisingly that seemed to satisfy him and he waved bye bye to his favorite night-time friends...

I was surprsingly emotional throughout this entire process...literally choking back tears y'all.  I was not prepared in any way for this reaction, but just kept thinking how proud I was of him and how hard this must be for him and most of all how I cannot even believe that my sweet little boy is old enough to get rid of his pacis.  How did this happen?  When did he get so old?

When we got home, James and I put away the groceries, and when we were done, this is how I found H...

Where better to use your new computer than at the computer desk?

Bedtime went pretty well tonight.  He pulled out some new stall tactics that he's never used before, but we got through them quickly.  I lost count after the 8th time of asking for his pacis.  He never broke down, though, and I really did feel so proud of him when I closed his bedroom door.  I love that kid so much.  He makes my heart happy.  Proud and happy.