Goodbye Gabo!

It has been nearly four weeks and I think it's safe to say that James has fully given up the pacifier.  

In the Backman household, the pacifier has been referred to as "gabo" for the past 20 months.  Don't ask me how we came up with that term, to be honest I think Matt just made it up.  It did become a joke, though, that James would "gabo gabo gabo" (gobble gobble gobble) on his pacifier, he loved it so much.    Sometimes he would carry two with him and switch them back and forth, just for fun.

We knew we wanted to give up the gabo before the new baby came- there's no way we could take it away from James while introducing it to the new little one.  So if we didn't do it now, he probably wouldn't give it up til the new baby did (he'd be nearly four years old!!)

I said we would do it when we got back from Hawaii (there's no way I would attempt two plane rides, six hours each, without the gabo at this age).  But then I stalled, and stalled, and stalled... it made me sad to take away a symbol of James' infanthood- I'm not ready for my baby boy to grow up!

The night Matt and I went to dinner for our anniversary, my mom came over and put James to bed, forgetting to give him the pacifier.  He was so tired from all of their playing that he went down without it!  I saw this as our opportunity, and we never went back.  I'm thankful because my mom really did the hardest part for me on this first night!  

For a few days, James would wake up and look for it, tearing apart his bed until he realized it wasn't there.  He really only needed it when he woke up in the morning or from nap time.  I have to admit, I've needed it a few times when he's having tough moments, but we've gotten through it.

For the past week, James hasn't looked for his gabo and I haven't thought about it either. I can't believe it!

Goodbye little treasures! 

These things have been everywhere with us... I'm sure the collection was double this size at some point, and that we will continue to find them over the years under furniture, in the car...

I'm glad I have so many cute paci-faced photos to remember this stage. :)