Jonesin' for his Paci

I feel fairly new to the pacifier.  Turner only took one for the first few weeks after he was born and then switched over to the paci.  They are so alike in personality and temperament (at this point in life) that it kind of threw me when Tillman decided that he was a paci-man and never took to sucking his thumb.  Everything else seemed fairly predictable and was much easier the second time around, so even though it's a simple thing, it sort of threw me for a loop.

Of course there's the challenge related to the fact that it's not attached to his body and even though we own 1 MILLION pacifiers I can never find one before naptime or bedtime.  And then there are the times when he's trying to fall asleep in his crib and it's too dark for him to find his paci if it fell out of his mouth.

But overall it's alright.  Plus I'm grateful that he has something that will sooth him!  And I'm also grateful that in a year or two I'll be able to throw it away or give it back to the "pacifier fairy".  Turner mostly sucks his thumb when he's in a new place or when he's tired.  So it seems as of now that he will naturally and progressively stop sucking his thumb over time.  Though he looks like his Aunty Shanty, let's hope he doesn't take after her in this department and choose to suck his thumb until he's thirteen (alright, maybe she was eight, give or take). 

But the best part is that for months now, when I put the paci in his mouth he automatically turns it upside down.  It's hilarious.  If I put it in upside down, he leaves it as-is.  It took me a while to figure out that he likes it that way.

I've also figured out recently that if I put him down to bed with a paci in his mouth and one in his hands, he's guaranteed to fall asleep on his own without me having to go back in there at all.  He just spends a few minutes trading the two out and laughing to himself and within a few minutes he's off to la-la land!

So even though I hope he breaks the habit before he turns 3 (give or take), for now we'll continue to have a paci tethered to his shirt, one in the car, my purse, his backpack, one in each room, and three in his own room....just to be on the safe side.

                                                       DON'T MESS WITH MY PACI!