RIP Mr. Paci 5/16/06 to 11/23/09

Well Lathan did it...he kicked the paci habit all by himself! I knew he would when he was ready and last week it happened. Patrick came down Sunday night to get a paci and he couldn't find one. I kind of forgot about it until the next morning when Lathan woke up and asked if I would try and find him one. I realized that he had gone the whole night without it and after a little persuasion got him to agree that we would send our pacis to Santa in return for extra toys. And since Christmas was a whole month away, if he could go all week without a paci, he would earn himself a special trip...just Nay Nay and Mommy...to the Disney Store. Deal!

I was so proud of him...he was SOOOOO attached to this thing I thought for sure I'd end up giving it back to him. (I wasn't going to make him miserable - if he seemed upset I was going to assume this wasn't the right time and try again later). However Friday rolled around and he was paci free so we had Grammie watch the others and we were off!

*I thought this was sweet...Lauren and Logan were Lathan's biggest cheerleaders and when Logan woke up on Friday he was actually the one who brought it up. He opened his eyes and first thing out of his mouth was "is today Friday?" When I said yes, he jumped up and ran over to Lathan and said "its Friday...you get a prize for no paci!" He was genuinely proud and happy for his brother!*


Lathan's goodies...A Christmas Mickey Mouse and a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Doctor Kit


Such a big boy

I actually miss the paci...probably more than Lathan! It was such a part of Lathan and pretty much the last of the "baby" things for the triplets.

Some Paci Facts:

The paci was a life saver - if Lathan got hurt or was upset, the paci ALWAYS made it better.

When the triplets were in the NICU, they all took pacis. Lauren was the most hooked and actually Lathan wasn't too much of a fan. When they came home though we had a bucket of pink, green and blue pacis and by about 6 months old, Lathan was the only one still using them. (Logan had tongue issues which made the paci hard for him to use and I think Lauren realized that they made her fall asleep and she decided she didn't want to miss anything!) They all became Lathan's pacis...the blue ones, the green ones, even the pink ones and every color in between! He preferred the blue ones, but when it came down to it, any color would do.

If we gave him one with the bumps (soothing gum massagers???) he'd give it back and ask for a "clean" paci. He also liked his pacis wet and if he heard running water, he'd bring his paci to the sink and ask us to wet it. He went through a phase where he liked it cold and stuck it in the fridge from time to time but that didn't last too long :)

Lathan could cry/laugh/cough/sneeze/talk and pretty much do ANYTHING with a paci in his mouth! We usually made him take it out when he started to talk but truthfully we could easily understand him with it in.

We must have gone through a hundred paci's these past few years. We had stashes at our house, Grammie's house, in the car, etc. Strange that we ran out! We've come across two since he gave them up, I'm sure we'll find a few more here and there but where did the rest go??? I do know that one was given to the fishies on a boat trip and I know of two that were flushed (once on accident and once I'm pretty sure was on purpose!!!). Some were dropped in gross places, like Bourbon Street and were tossed but the rest are who knows where!

Logan was known for stealing Lathan's pacis...even when they were babies! Sometimes Loggie would hide it, sometimes he'd just stick it in his mouth to taunt Lathan. BOYS! On the other hand, both Logan and Lauren knew how much the paci meant to Lathan and if he got hurt they'd go on a hunt to find him one and bring it to him to make him feel better. (They'd also use it as leverage for trading/sharing toys)

Logan with Lathan's Paci...he didn't even know what to do with it...he's just biting it!

Oh Paci...you will be missed!

Growing Up...

Lathan with a paci for the first time 5-16-06

And the very last picture I have of Lathan with his paci - he called this trick Double Paci!

Gosh...I didn't how attached to it I was. Why do kids have to grow up so fast!?!?!

Next step: Getting the triplets new bedrooms set up and moved out of our room. I'm a mess just thinking about it!