ode to mimi

On Thursday, I walked into Venus' house to pick up Natalie. "She took her nap without her pacifier today. We think she's ready," Venus says. She immediately sees the shock on my face and the tears brimming in my eyes. "Of course, you have to wait until you're ready to give it up completely," she says. Deep breath. That's right. Because, I really realized at that point that it was me that wasn't ready [not Natalie]. I wasn't ready to watch my baby girl be a big girl. Was I ready to give up the mimi?

Now, those of you who know Natalie know how much she loved her "mimi" [paci]. It might as well have been her first word. She loved that thing to pieces and has since the day she was born. I've probably bought about 15 or 20 of them since she was born. Who knows where they've all disappeared to...some were probably thrown out of carts and strollers. Some were surely eaten by Sadie Butter. But four remained. Four mimi's. And so I had to dedicate a post to the mimi's, because as you can see it's obviously a much bigger deal for me than it was for Natalie.

As she's gotten older, the rule was that she was only allowed to have them in her crib or [sometimes] in the car [I have to make it sanely to LaGrange somehow, right?]. Venus would tell stories of how Natalie would steal a baby's paci and stand in the corner, crouch down, and suck-suck-suck that paci until Venus came and took it away! And I envisioned giving up the mimi being so traumatic. But it was actually as anticlimactic as it could be. She took a nap without it on Saturday and Sunday, and so I asked Dave today..."Do you think it's time to let her sleep without it at night?"

"Yes," he says, "It's time." So throughout the day today we reminded her of what a big girl she is. And tonight, when Dave laid her down in bed, all she said was, "Night night" to Dave. [She usually says, "mimi" because she likes one to be placed right next to her in her bed].

Mimi, you have served me [us] well over these past 20 months. I will miss you, but I am so proud of my big girl. I am going to take you off of my dresser, wash you, and pack you away. Night night, Mimi, Night night.