No More Pappy?!?!?!

If you have been following this blog for any length of time you will probably know that Clara Beth's pappy is pretty important to her. We took the pappy away during the day when she was 18 months old, but she still gets it to go to sleep at night. And on long car trips. And sometimes when Daddy isn't looking. Bad, bad Mommy, I know. Seriously, though, I just don't see a problem with it. It definitely has not affected her speech, and her teeth are fine. And when she puts it in her mouth she starts this humming thing that's just so darn cute I want to kiss her all over. And I'm pretty sure she won't go to first grade with it So I have not pushed getting rid of it. But a few weeks ago, Jessica mentioned letting the girls (Lilah still uses a pappy too) give their pacifiers to Cinderella when we went to Disney. I don't think Lilah was very fond of that idea, but Clara Beth embraced it. She talks about it all the time and will tell you very matter-of-factly that she is giving her pappy to Cinderella's baby. We bought some princess wrapping paper to wrap them up, and yesterday Clara Beth asked if we could go ahead and wrap the pappies. So we did!

Here are some final(?) pictures of my baby girl with a pappy in her mouth.

She helped me wrap them up.

We made sure that Cinderella was on the front!
And then we took them upstairs to toss them in the suitcase! I was very skeptical, but excited for her.

Here are some videos of her talking about what she's getting ready to do. I think they are reversed, though, so you probably want to watch the bottom one first.

Of course the real test came last night at bedtime. I had no idea what to expect. She was very restless during the Bible story and prayers, and while we were singing her songs she came to the realization of what was wrong. That precious bottom lip poked way out, her chin started quivering, and her eyes filled with tears. And she started asking for her pappy. I tried to console her and remind her that she wanted to give them to Cinderella, but she didn't care. She wanted them. Period. So, I told her I would be back with them after we sang Mak's songs to him. We left, she calmed down, and when I peeked back in on her she was asleep. So I didn't take them to her.

I went downstairs, and about 20 minutes later she was crying again. I went back upstairs to her, and she was crying "You didn't feed me!" I promise I fed the child. But it was early because we had to get Mak to soccer practice, and she only ate one bite. I know I should have made her stay in bed, but I just couldn't. I brought her downstairs and gave her yogurt. Don't give me any grief. I know I shouldn't have, but I was feeling pretty sensitive because this was her first night sleeping without her pappy. And she has slept with a pappy since her first night on this earth!

After she ate her yogurt, I took her back to her room and put her in bed. She started asking for the pappy again. I brought her the present and told her she could do what she wanted with it. But reminded her that in order to get the pappies inside, she would have to tear Cinderella. I left and didn't hear another sound from her. We checked on her before going to bed, and she was sleeping with the present, still wrapped, tucked under her covers. It was the sweetest thing in the world.

She woke once during the night, I didn't hear her, and Collin slept on her floor for an hour. But she never opened the present. She came in our room this morning carrying her baby, her mimi, and the present. She wanted to put it back in the suitcase. Sweet, sweet baby. And that's where it is now. We shall see how tonight goes!