Growing up is hard to do.

I took the soother away from the boy this week. He is almost 2 after all. I only let him have it when it is nap time of bed time, or we are at church and I want him to sit still for the last 10-15minutes when he has just had enough of the confinement of the church pews. He also has this blanket that he loves. The soother and blanket combination were like a magic wand. When I put him down and give him those two things, he'd be out almost instantaneously. I was dreading taking his soother away; I love how he just goes to sleep in a blink of an eye. But I knew it was time. He'd sometimes go sneak it out of his crib and then walk around chewing on it and talk to me with it in his mouth. My hubby convinced me that it would be a good week to just do it seeing how it was Easter break and the kids weren't in school. So I just didn't give it to him for nap time on Tuesday. He fussed a bit, but then just went to sleep. So at bedtime, I just didn't give it to him, again he fussed for a bit but just went to sleep. The first draw back I noticed was that he wakes up earlier in the morning and won't go back to sleep. I also came to realize if I push putting him down for a nap by about an hour, he goes to sleep much better. This actually works nicely for me. Before he would lay down at 11am before lunch and then wake up miserable because he was starving. But if I can get another hour out of him, I can get him to eat lunch first, problem is, I can't always get that hour. At times he is just so down right cantankerous that he MUST go down earlier, for my own sanity if nothing else.

Today was the first day that I really missed that soother. The boy was up at 6am this morning. about an hour and a half earlier than he usually wakes up. Which meant he was going to be miserable by 11am and need a nap. The problem: We would be in church, 11am just happens to be right at the end of sacrament meeting. I bet you can see where this is going. At about 20 minutes to eleven, the boy turned into a monster. I tried to calm him with playing hand games, which would work for 30 seconds, but then he'd be mad again. My wonderful Relief Society president, offered to take him out for a walk in the halls so I could have a few moments of peace during the meeting. I guess while they were out in the hall she noticed he was tired and almost had him asleep in her arms(not an easy feet for a 70+ year old grandma and a 40lb toddler)...until the congregation began to sing the closing hymn, and then he woke up and howled. If I had had his soother and blanket I know he would have sat calmly on the pew beside me and gone to sleep leaning up against me. But I can't go back now. Hopefully sooner rather than too much later he'll get used its absence and together we'll figure out what to do in its absence.All in all I've been pleasantly surprised on how well he has done with out it...at least when we are at home.