Ducky

When Chloe was a newborn, she wanted to be a thumb-sucker so bad. She would put her little hand to her mouth and suck until finally one day she found the thumb and in it went. I let her suck on her thumb long enough to take a picture. From that moment on, each time she went for her thumb at nap or bedtime, I removed her tiny finger and replaced it with a pacifier. My thoughts were..."I can take a pacifier away later, but I can never take away her thumb."

Tonight Chloe went night-night for the first time without her ducky. She is going to be two in just a week. I probably let her keep it as a comfort for longer than I should. But she had that sweet nickname for it, and just loved so much. When i would show it to her, she'd smile. When we'd talk about naptime she'd say, "blankie, ducky!" with such excitement.

Anyway, I feel like it's time to go...but it's kind of sad. So tonight I braced myself for the sadness, crying and screaming. I hid the duckies, and then got Chloe ready for bed. When she said "ducky" to me, I looked at her and said, "I don't know? I'm not sure where it is." (I guess that's pretty much a lie.) But she looked at me and said, "oh". So I laid her in her bed. I told her goodnight. I turned the light off, and walked out. I haven't heard a noise from her. Hmmm...I will miss the ducky. It's a tiny symbol my baby is growing up.