The first night in the hospital after Madelynn was born, I was exhausted since I labored all day and all night before she was born. I felt like the worst mom ever because I let them take her to the nursery that night so I could sleep. Of course they brought her in when she wanted to eat. Before the nurse took her, she asked, "Do you want us to give her a pacifier?" I very quickly responded, "Absolutely not!" I wanted to make sure we were able to get breastfeeding established before introducing anything else. Well the next morning I found a pacifier in the drawer under her bassinett. The rest is history, I suppose, since here we are 18 months later!

To all my haters out there (i.e. Grandma and Dad), we are binky free!! I had started to notice Madelynn's top front teeth were starting to get a little "pushed up" in the center, so I knew it was time. I never really thought about it until this weekend, but I had become just as attached to the binky as Madelynn was. In a different way, of course, but I depended on that thing, too. If she was whining, I'd tell her to go find her duck. (her Wubbanub was a duck with a binky on the end...best invention EVER!) In the car, she was silent because she had that duck. At night and naptime, she (usually) went right down with no fuss. It certainly made my life easier. But my girl was growing up. It was time to take that step and realize that she wasn't a baby anymore.

Last night I put her to bed with a blanket and Minnie Mouse hoping she would maybe find some comfort in at least one of those. She actually did really well...fussed a little but nothing like the screaming I had prepared myself for. It took her a while to fall asleep, but she slept through the night! Naptime today was a bit more difficult. Let's just say she was a tired little girl for gymnastics this evening!!

I had a bit of a moment when I tossed the duck into the trash can today. Her first Wubbanub was a pink horse, but that got lost at the hospital during a visit last Summer when Jonathan was in after his surgery. So the duck had been with us for almost a year. It had been drowned in the tub a few times, had survived many cycles in the washing machine, and that binky was still attached to the duck, though only by a few final strings.

So now to the next adventure, potty training! I know it's a little early, but she is VERY interested in the potty. She insists on sitting on it so we will probably get serious about it in the next month or so. I was potty trained at 21 months so crossing my fingers she will follow in my footsteps!!