Big Boy Weekend || Part One

We have pretty much had the most eventful weekend e v e r.  We're taking like enough to have a post everyday for a week & it doesn't help that I haven't posted in a while!  Here's to attempting to catch up!

Let me just set the stage for this story.  As Cam grows, I've figured out & found that I'm the kind of parent that is laid back & leans more to the "let them be little" as long as they can be!  <yes, this is coming from a speech therapist😬> I feel like we make our kids grow up way faster than they should have to sometimes.  Childhood flies by in warp speed as it is & I want it to last as long as it possibly can in our little household.  This was n o t who I imagined myself to be before actually having kids.  I always thought I would do everything by the books & be strict about everything -because, thats what great mom's are supposed to be like right?  Well now I say bla-bla-bla bla bla.  But really, I guess you can say I've just learned to go with my instinct & do what works for us & ignore the rest.  And so far, I haven't' regretted any decision that we've made.

That being said, yes.  Cam is almost three years old & he still took his frafryer (pacifier) at night.  We were at the point where I took it after he fell asleep, but he still was completely attached to it when he seemed to be fighting sleep or not wanting to chill out at night.  It was like magic.  Give him the pacifier (& one of my "soft shirts") & he melted into a coma.  It absolutely breaks my heart to think that we are well past the stage that he needs to let go of it, but I know it is time.  SO-we did so in a fun way.

This weekend after his first dentist visit, I had planned to do the thing I (& obviously Cam) have dreaded for almost two years.  We headed to Build A Bear to give his favorite bedtime buddy a new home.  A "special place" where it can always stay close to him.  

We have been talking this up for w e e k s & if you asked him what he was going to do with his pacifier, he would automatically say "put my frafryer in a bear!"  Now.  Whether or not he was aware of what was going on--I'm not sure.  But he was excited about it, so that made it a little easier on my heart.

They had super cute choices for boys which is usually not the case!  Paw Patrol, How to Train a Dragon, Star Wars...you name it!  Cam was torn between Chewbacca & Toothless the Dragon but in the end--Chewbacca won out;)

With Conley looking on, Cam willingly handed over his most prized possession for the lady to stuff in his new bedtime wookie (and of course chose the $7 wookie sound effect to squeeze).  So... pacifier to feel in one arm & annoying wookie sounds to wake Conley up in the other.  P e r f e c t;)  He kissed the heart, rubbed it on his head to help Chewy "be smart like him", rubbed it on his tummy to "make him like all the foods he likes"...the w h o l e shebang.  He pushed the little stuffing fluffer pedal with his foot & Chewy came to life.  We had a happy little boy who felt like the "biggest boy" in the world for what he had done.

He gave him a bath.  Brushed him.  And named him...brace yourselves...Chewbacca!  
Ha ha:)

And just like that, our big boy grew up one more notch.  Not only by giving up his pacifier completely, but he's also finally mastering his potty training ways!  I really can't believe how fast my baby is changing into a little boy.  

He has been sleeping with Chewbacca every night (takes him almost everywhere) & no mention of the pacifier in about two days.  He even gave his "soft shirt" to Conley.  

You guys, I'll be placing a kleenex order in bulk.  More to come, stay tuned:)