the nana fairy

Arabella had a serious obsession with her pacifiers.  She's never been able to soothe herself and took to her "nana" like it was an appendage.  We hated the nana and at the same time thanked our lucky stars she was comforted by it.  If I counted up all the time we've spent searching our homes for the stupid little rubber things or looking under tables at restaurants, under the seats of the car, in boxes, under beds...it would probably equal two weeks of our life. Maybe more. Just finding the nanas.  I've probably spent $50 over the years on replacements.  At age two nana had been downgraded to naps and bedtime. No more carting it with us or using it out of the bedroom.  But still, we spent countless nights woken by Bella's screams because she'd misplaced nana in her bed sheets?

It was time for nana to go.  We'd been preparing Bella for the nana fairy's arrival for months now.  Mostly as a threat when we were furious because we'd given her a pacifier and two seconds later it had been lost again.  But the preparations were in place.  Her third birthday was D-day.  I started getting nervous about D-day because I didn't want to ruin her B-day.  I was expecting at least two night of crying herself to sleep.  I'd been preparing to let Addie sleep in the guest room until Bella got over the trauma.

Last week I took all her Soothie pacifiers and put them in a box.  I gave her one strange newborn Nuk type pacifier she wasn't used to and told her she could use this one until the nana fairy came on her birthday.  She seemed OK with it.  The next day I asked her if she was ready for the fairy to come and if there was something special she wanted the fairy to leave her.  She said "Barney".  She's been talking about a stuffed Barney doll for her birthday for weeks.  Lucky for us we had one waiting for her birthday.  That night she handed over all her pacifiers and set them in the box on the coffee table.  Addie requested that the nana fairy not be allowed to come in their bedroom to retrieve the pacifiers.  Fair enough.

That night she fell asleep and slept through the entire night without her nanas.  No crying or fussing or issues.  Justin and I couldn't believe our luck.  The next morning she was thrilled to see her Barney doll and hasn't asked about her nanas since.  Piece of cake.

It was time and she knew it.  We are so proud of our Bella Bean.  Now that the nanas are gone, for whatever reason she seems to have grown up even more.  It's only been a few days but it has made a difference.  I think she's proud to be a big girl.