As I mentioned in the last post, Nora was (slightly) unexpectedly "moved up" last week and while we were happy to have her moving on up, we weren't prepared for some of the changes, especially the end of the "fier."
We tried to take her "fier" away a few months after we arrived in Lancaster, but it didn't go well. She was about 16-months old and from what I remember she would ask for a banana every time I put her to bed but she wouldn't eat it, she'd just play with it. After a few nights I figured it wasn't worth it and I gave up.
Cut to last Wednesday when SMS and I were on a day-trip to Baltimore and we got a text that the kids in the two-year-old room (now being referred to as "Nursery School") don't use pacifiers. They said they would let N use hers if we wanted them to, but that they would like to put her down without one. I wished them luck.
Well, low and behold, she took a nap without her fier. That night it took me quite a while to get her to go to sleep without it and she did wake up at 3am and I had to go comfort her for the first time in a long time, but for the most part, she slept. Thursday she again took a nap at day care without her fier, though we did get a report that she asked for it pretty insistently. Thursday night she went to bed a bit more easily and didn't wake during the night. As of Friday morning it seemed we were in good shape - she even took a nap on Friday at home without her fier! The only hiccup was a slightly earlier wake-up time: between 6am and 6:30am instead of 7am, which was a new, later wake-up time for her since the move, but beyond that, it seemed we were in the clear ... until Saturday.
Saturday was one of those days that makes me want to gauge my own eyes out. Nora was generally cranky (though no more than usual though, lots of: "No, No, No," "Mine, Mine, Mine," and "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!") but Sam took her to the playground in the morning and we gave her some yummy lunch when they got home. Then, for an hour and twenty minutes we tried to get her to take a nap. Not pretty. Not pretty at all. None of the usual tricks were working and while she wasn't pleading for her pacifier, she really didn't want me to leave the room - and I desperately needed a nap of my own...
We had two parties to attend that afternoon/evening and the outlook wasn't good...
Though we did not give in and give her her fier, we did give up. We got ourselves ready for the party and loaded up the car. We figured if she fell asleep in the car, we would drive around for a bit and if she didn't, the kids at the other party would distract her enough so that we could enjoy some adult company for a little bit. The latter worked, for the most part.
We didn't make it to the second party, but even on a good day that could have been a stretch, so we brought her home, topped her off with some dinner and attempted to get her down for the night. About 40-minutes of screaming/crying/gagging followed and was finally ended when Sam told her a made-up story about his childhood while I was rubbing her back. She slept all night, woke up a little early and after a fantastic morning at the Marietta's farmer's market (such a nice place!) she is back to sleep for a nap, no fier, no problem. Could we be through the looking glass and out the other side? Only time will tell....
Fingers crossed, Jamie--it sounds like Nora's adjusting to life without the fier. My mom tells the story that with me, she was terrified of weaning me off of it and one day noticed it was cracked around the edges. So she pointed it to me and I promptly took it and marched it to the trash can and that was that. Boy did they get off easy, huh?!
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