Adele and her pacifiers

When Adele was first born, I worked for a long time to get her to take a pacifier. 

I tried all different types of pacifiers. Nothing seemed to work. FINALLY at two months old, Adele latched on to her first paci. I was thrilled. We attached that thing to her outfits every day and never went anywhere without it. We had four great months. Fussy Adele? Stick the paci in her mouth. If I wanted to stretch her feedings? Insert paci in mouth. Cooing loudly in a group setting when we needed to be quiet? Paci --> mouth. Naptime or bedtime? Paci time.

At 6 months old, Adele chewed a hole in that paci. It was a sad day. No big deal, right? I had other pacifiers. Nothing exactly like her favorite one, but plenty to choose from. Nope, no deal. I tried for weeks to get Adele to take to another pacifier. Finally, one day I threw in the towel and gave up.

Many people told me that was a good thing - it would mean I wouldn't have to wean her off the paci when she was older and still attached. That sounded nice, but I quickly realized I would have easily chosen a few days worth of fuss when the day came to wean off the paci over many months of no paci to soothe Adele as a baby. Instead of using a pacifier, Adele wanted to nurse all the time. When she was fussy, when she was tired, to go back to sleep at night every time she woke up, etc.

Oh, how I mourned the loss of that pacifier.

One day in the last 6-8 months or so before Henry was born, Adele came across a pacifier. Probably one I tried to get her to take as a baby. She got a kick out of it, and enjoyed chewing on it. It was pretty obvious she didn't know how to properly use it, as she never really got the hang of sucking on it. I didn't teach her, since she was older than 2. Every now and then she asked for her paci before bed. Sometimes I gave it to her; sometimes I didn't. Naturally, when a child is older than 2, it's not the ideal time to get them hooked on a pacifier.

This summer, as we've been traveling, there has been a day here and there where Adele has asked for her paci. She doesn't depend on it, and hadn't asked for it very often, but seemed to enjoy chewing on it for a few minutes in her bed before setting it aside for the night. I ended up leaving it in Spokane.

Big mistake.

As is the case with many things in life, we all want what we can't have. Adele has decided she needs her paci. She is a very sensitive girl, very driven by her emotions. Change is hard on her. It appears that with lots of change and disruption going on in her life, she has decided that maybe having her paci will make her feel better.

With David leaving on Sunday, I knew that would be another big emotional change for her. So what did Adele and I do? First thing we did after he pulled away was get in our car and go buy a pack of two pacifiers for her. She picked them out - a pink and purple one.

She takes them to bed with her, sometimes chews on them, sometimes puts both in her mouth at once, sometimes just puts them under her blanket. I like to think of them as a teddy bear - something to give her comfort in a difficult time in her life. I'm trying not to think about the ridiculousness of willingly buying a 2 1/2 year old two pacifiers, after she quit taking one at 6 months old.

I guess we'll still have to go through a sort of a process of getting rid of the pacifier...but not today.