so long, old friend!

I waited a bit on writing this post, just to be sure. Today marks the two-week anniversary of Saralynn's offical goodbye to her pacifier- what she calls her "pa-pa". We were playing in the den- she and Pop were playing Simon Says, as a matter of fact, and he told her that she was a big girl and needed to throw her pa-pa away. She instantly agreed and ran toward the trash can. Mimi wisely reminded her that once it went in the trash, it couldn't come back out because it would be nasty. She still ran toward the trash can and threw her pink pa-pa away. Of course, this all transpired before I could grab the video camera- that's some footage I would've loved to have recorded! Alas, we all watched as she threw it in the trash, and then all clapped and shouted about what a big girl she was!

Here are a few pictures of Simon Says:

Fast-forward to bedtime. Saralynn laid down on the couch with her Daddy and asked for her pa-pa about 3174 times, but after about 45 minutes, she cried herself to sleep. The next morning, she woke up and asked for it again, and we reminded her that she had thrown it in the trash. We were in the den putting on her shoes, headed to day care, when she exclaimed, "Look what I found Mommy!" and pointed to the mantle. What should be there, but a green PA-PA. Oh, horrors! My life flashed before my eyes in that moment. OK, a slight exaggeration, but I was a little worried about what we might do. I took her to the bathroom to fix her hair while Mimi disposed of the green one (aka put it in her purse- we aren't totally crazy to have thrown them all away). Saralynn went back to the den and stared at the mantle in amazement. Or maybe it was horror. I'm not sure which. However, the look on her face was priceless. If she could have, she would have said, "I know I just saw a pa-pa on that mantle." We went on to school like normal, and she forgot about it, I guess.

The second night was fairly easy, but the third night was not. But, we persevered. We made it through the weekend, and celebrated the one week anniversary of being pa-pa-less. Wow. That word is music to my ears. I think I'll submit it to Mr. Webster for inclusion in his upcoming word book...

Saralynn spent the weekend in Jonesboro with Nana and Paw Paw this past weekend, and survived without the friend there, too. So, friends, I share our news with you. No more pa-pas are being used in the Pelt/Carter household. For those of you that have struggled with this, you know how excited I am. Yes, the damage is done and Dr. Stewart will love accepting our money as he puts braces on our beloved in a few years, but nonetheless, it is a wonderful feeling to be DONE with the pa-pa and couldn't be happier!

Now, on to potty-training full time! Any advice there?

Intentionally Excited,

Mary Beth