Swiper Strikes Again.

It's a well known fact that Sophia is a paci kid.  Always has been, and at some points I worried, she always would be. She not only loved the thing like a dear family member, she was truly addicted to it. Feigning for it is an understatement... she HAD TO HAVE IT to go to sleep, rest or otherwise function normally. Sadly I must admit I was her biggest enabler. Letting her have it at undesignated times (any time other than naps and bedtime) just so she'd be happy.  Honestly I felt like she'd been through so many changes in the last year (move to a new state, new home, new bed, potty training, new siblings etc)  that if she wanted her paci while watching Curious George far be it for me to take away her comfort item. Let the kid have some small joys in life. Hell, if I had an equally effective way to self soothe I wouldn't readily give it up either.

It was because of her notorious love of her paci that last week's events came as a complete surprise.

Monday morning she was on her usual hunt for a lost binky. Although we have a just in case stash of them she was looking for one in particular... the pink and orange one. I had decided to not play the enabler that morning so when asked as to the whereabouts of said binky I feigned ignorance (although I had just misplaced it a few minutes prior). Suddenly Sophia came up with the only explanation she could think of for what had happened to her binky...

Swiper the Fox must have SWIPED it!

And just like that she had created for herself a way to say good bye to her long cherished friend. No tears, no tantrums, no whining, no mention of the several other binky's waiting in reserve.....NADA.

Just a nice scenario, that we talked about in detail that day, in which Swiper came along and swiped her binky... for the good of a nice baby named Joe (also another element of her choosing) who was badly in need of a paci and who later thanked her profusely for being such a big girl and giving hers away.

And that was that.

Well that and the new Dora bike helmet she is getting in exchange for being such a big girl.

I must admit I have been lucky with that little one.  She not only adjusts to change amazingly well but with each milestone in her life has found a way to take a step forward without much assistance or intervention from us.  As a baby she weaned herself from nursing without any steps taken by me.. she was just done and ready to move on seemingly overnight.  Then later she transitioned from a crib to a toddler bed without so much as a complaint and a couple of weeks after the boys were born she decreed that she was done with diapers and virtually "potty trained" herself in a matter of days.  

This latest transition was the biggest surprise to me. Admittedly I was dreading it. I had anxiously  envisioned the hard and long fought battle that would surely ensue as a result of banning her long time, favorite lovey .. but true to form she did it in her own time, on her own terms.

I wonder what she'll outgrow next?

Goodbye and farewell old friend. My little girl is growing up fast.