Bye-Bye Plugs

It was a big week for Owen; he told his "plugs" (aka pacifiers) good-bye forever and ever. I think Chris and I dreaded getting rid of them more than Owen did. It had turned into a crutch for us when we needed him to be quiet and go to sleep. But after he cried for an hour in the car on the way back from Tulsa b/c he wanted a plug, I decided it was time to be done. We waited for a trash day so he could watch the trash man come and take them away. He loves watching the trash men anyway, and it was just a plus that someone else could be an unwitting scapegoat! We talked it up for a few days, and then on Thursday morning we collected all the plugs, put them in a baggy and I let Owen put them in the trash can. He waited all morning for the truck to come. His patience paid off; while he was playing at a neighbor's, he heard the truck and managed to see it take his plugs away. He was certainly a big talker as he told everyone his plugs were gone for ever and that he was a big boy now. That talk ended as soon as it was nap time. I'm pretty sure he cried for over an hour and it sounded something like this... "Me want my plugs! Me no like that trash guy! Bad trash guy! Me never sleep, ever ever again! Me need my plugs NOW!" I should have gotten some audio... That night it helped that he was over tired b/c he fell asleep pretty quickly...only to wake up a midnight crying. That lasted about a half an hour, and then he was done. The last two naps have gone smoothly, and last night he slept all night. It really wasn't as painful as I had anticipated, thank the Lord! Now on to potty training...yeah, right.