Charlie & his love for the PETA. When he was a baby his pacifier was quickly nicknamed 'peta' - short for chupete, spanish for pacifier. He (& we I suppose) carried it everywhere. We tried to limit usage to just sleeping...but how can you say no to something that brings such peace. I always joked he turned into a bird on his back as soon as he put it in. But as we approached 3 and as those sweet little teeth started to buck out, it became apparent it was time to hand it over to the Peta Fairy. An overwhelming thought for us all.
The plan was simple.
Step 1. Pack up all of Charlie's petas and mail them off to the Peta Fairy, who in turn would gift them to a new baby.
Step 2. Go directly to the toy store and give Charlie free reign to pick out a toy of his choice as a symbol of him becoming a 'big boy.'
Step 3. Hold our breath that it works.
How the plan unfolded.
I shipped Maggie off to the zoo with a friend to give Charlie & I the morning together to say good-bye to the peta. The idea of going to the post office and mailing the petas off to the fairy was definitely intriguing. You can see here that he is a bit apprehensive, and not entirely wanting to let go.
...but a little reminder of our trip to the toy store & the promise he could hand it off to the mail truck was all he needed.
We popped up to Ambassador Toys in West Portal, and Charlie didn't have any interest in picking out a toy. His only care, playing at the train table. 30 minutes later & a little coxing he made his way to the Tomas the Train display. He picked out a new train & off we went.
Oh wait, bribe #2 - M&Ms.
and bribe #3 - Blue Bottle Hot Chocolate.
It's been a few days now, and he has been a CHAMP about it. He has asked a few times, but nothing he hasn't been able to quickly move past. I think the biggest lesson for us was how easy it is to build up anxiety around thinking it would be harder than it was.
Now onto potty training....
