Good-bye Paci, Hello Maxi . . .

I love it when I have an idea that actually works. Sophia was a girl who loved her pacifier. Once she turned two, I was kind of hoping that she would eventually just give it up on her own like Grand did. She was down to just using it in bed and in the car but despite numerous suggestions, she just wasn't quite willing to part with her silicon friend. That is until we found the right bribe . . .

A while back I told Sophia that when she was ready we could go to Build-a-Bear and put her pacifier inside a stuffed animal. She could then sleep with her paci without having it in her mouth. A week and a half ago Sophia decided that she was ready. I took Sophia to Build-a-Bear where she chose an adorable pink and white poodle. Sophia was very excited to put her paci inside. She named her poodle, Maxi, after her friend, Max.

To be perfectly honest, I expected to be tempted to cut the paci out of the stuffed animal the first night. Sophia did really well though. She was very proud of Maxi and told us several times, "When I miss my paci, I can just hug Maxi." She did have a little trouble falling asleep the first couple of nights, but here we are a week and a half later and we're back to normal--except sleeping with a stuffed poodle instead of a pacifier.

Sophia putting the stuffing into Maxi.

Giving Maxi a "bath".

Our new friend, Maxi.