Meredith and that Nuk

I started to write about Meredith and her Nuk way back in mid-may.  This is kind of old news at this point but I need to document it for my sake.  :)  She is done with her Nuk...and has been since May 17th  But just a few nights ago, while rocking in the chair in her room, in a half sleep, she opened her eyes and said "Nukky.  I want my nukky!"  People said she'd forget about it after a day or two, but that was not the case.  She begged for a nukky for weeks after she last had it.  It was quite a comfort for her...(addiction?!).  I have told a few people that I almost wanted to give it back to her for MY sake...so she would still seem like a baby.  The nuk was the Last Thing - the last thing that tied her to being my little baby, instead of a little girl.  I didn't mind transitioning out of nursing, diapers, pull ups, her changing table, her crib....but the nuk was hard. Mer would put that thing in her mouth and nestle into me and she was instantly at peace.  The two things that gave her the most comfort...her nukky and her mama. I guess now I should take comfort in the fact that it is still and only her mama.

Below is what I started to type a few months ago...

Meredith has not had a Nuk since last Tuesday, May 17.  Today is Wednesday, May 25.  EIGHT DAYS.  And she has asked for it at least once every single day.  She had 3 of them.  Last Tuesday when we picked Ben up from preschool she left one there accidentally (which we didn't know for sure at that time).  When we got home, we could not find either of the other two.  So she went the rest of Tuesday without her Nuk.  She fell alseep fine, but there was definitely a lot of whining for her Nukky.  Wednesday was the same story:  We could not find the other two Nuks and we didn't know for sure if she had left the original at Ben's preschool.  One of my friends said, "You better find those other two nukkys before she does!"  Wednesday night after Mer had fallen asleep for the second night in a row without her nuk, Luke spotted one under my bed.  I snatched it and hid it.  The next morning Ben went back to preschool.  I told him that if they had that nukky at preschool and gave it to him, that no matter what, he had to keep it hidden in his backpack and not give it to Mer when he got home (I was going to be gone at Jake and was afraid he'd come home and say "Mer, look what they gave me at school today!...").  Sure enough, it was there and they sent it home with Ben.  But, such a good boy and direction follower my Benny is, he kept it hidden and didn't mention a word of it to Mer.  That night, as I was reaching for something under the boys' bunkbeds I stumbled across the third and last outstanding nuk.  I had them all in my possession.  And I still do.  I can't bring myself to throw them away.  So for now, they are stashed in a photo box underneath my bed.

Here are some recent, summer pictures of my Mer-Bear with no nuks in her mouth!