This morning when I went into Anna's room, she did have the pink pacifier in her mouth (the unsabotaged one). I heard her a couple of random times in the night when she must have grabbed one of the others though. Nothing that lasted longer than 10 seconds (she's quick to find those pacifiers in the dark!). I told her that today was the day we had to throw the pacifiers away like we had talked about (my reason for her was to not hurt her teeth because her pacifiers are too small for her mouth: the truth!) and she gathered the three pacifiers, stood up in her crib, and then I carried her downstairs.
I set her down at the bottom of the stairs and she walked into the kitchen and dropped the first one in to the trash rather hesitantly. She paused (I'd say nervously but I'm sure I'm projecting some, too) and tossed the other two in then shut the lid for the trash can. As I started to walk to her to give her a hug and say something encouraging, she totally lost her footing, did a few side-steps and then fell so her head hit the corner of the wall where the wall meets the door (an inner corner, not an outer corner). It was like she was in a state of disbelief and couldn't stand anymore. After that, I held her on the couch for about twenty minutes which is highly unusual (that would happen maybe if she is sick).
After breakfast we went to Landmark Mall and rode the carousel and a car in the play area. Then we went to the toy store (Early Learning Center which actually has some decent toys (as in wood, not plastic)) and picked out a basket with a momma cat, two kittens, a brush, and a drinking dish for the cats. We also stopped at Hallmark to pick out a stuffed animal to sleep with: she picked out a pink horse.
The whole morning I think she has been kind of sad about the pacifiers and she mentioned something about them at the mall. It is rainy today so we couldn't go to the playground like I had hoped to do to help really wear her out before naptime.
I put her down about 30 minutes ago and she has been fussing off and on for a bit. But no major freak-outs yet. I think I read in one of my sleep books that learning to sleep without the pacifier is like learning to sleep without a pillow. It's just going to take some time! I feel like I can relate a bit as I have had to re-learn to just sleep on my sides while pregnant again (just when I had rediscovered the joys of sleeping on any of my four sides!).
Craig has a work commitment tonight (I think he signed up just so he wouldn't have to be here for the drama!) so I'm going it alone for her first pacifier-free night, too. I'm hopeful that with some extra cuddling and snuggling we can get through this relatively unscathed.
It is actually quiet in her room now so I'm going to try to relax in case it is just the calm before the storm. I'll be sure to update on how tonight goes if we live to see the morning.
**She slept for over an hour and I didn't go in at all to reassure her. Although she was a bit annoyed when she did wake up she was easily consoled. I'm feeling hopeful for these first couple of nights!
As I wrote this, it is 8:30am here, but it is 6:30pm there. So, in an hour or so you will be putting Anna to bed and trying out the new regime. Good Luck! Stay strong. It will be okay. I am thinking about both of you.