Good-Bye Fluffy

  

Karis has finally said good-bye to Fluffy. We have been waiting for this day to come, but now that it has, we're a little sad. Karis has been attached to Fluffy since she was 6 months old. She didn't use a pacifier so she sucked on two fingers on her left hand. For some reason, whenever she held Fluffy, those fingers would automatically go into her mouth and at no other time. 

She slept with him and played with him, he comforted her, and she carried him wherever she went. He was part of the family! We definitely don't have a shortage of pictures of him. Here are just a few:

My two babies and their bottles

First day of potty training

Easter Sunday: Fluffy usually stayed at home or in the car -- not sure how he got to go to church 

A rare instance when she fell asleep on the couch, thanks to her gymnastics class 

TV time!

Fluffy was always close by

Fluffy was often a source of frustration to us -- she would stick dirty fingers in her mouth and I think she got sick more often because of it, she would lose him or leave him behind somewhere. We wasted so much time looking for Fluffy before naptime and bedtime. 

About a year or so ago, we told Karis she was to leave Fluffy in her bed during the day. She was fine with it and from that day forward Fluffy was always in her bed. We thought we were one step closer to giving up Fluffy. 

When we moved to Texas, the major change was affecting Karis. She became very whiney about everything. Fed up with it, I told her one day to go get Fluffy out of her room. From that day forward, at age 4, she was more attached to him than ever before. We couldn't get her to leave him in her bed anymore. She is an obedient child, but she just wouldn't and couldn't obey us on this one. We told her she needed to give up Fluffy. She wanted to and tried a couple times -- she asked us to give him away or to hide him from her -- but come bedtime, she would ask for him back. 

A week from last Tuesday, Karis told us she didn't need Fluffy anymore. I didn't think anything of it because we had heard her say that before. But that night, she went to bed without him. It was lying on her bedroom floor and she left him there. And just like that, she was done! The next couple of nights, it took her a little longer to fall asleep, but she did so without Fluffy. She slept with another stuffed animal. It's been almost two weeks and I think it's safe to say she is done with Fluffy and sucking fingers! We are so thankful that this day finally came and I feel a little silly for stressing out about it in the past. This truly is a sign of her growing up! sniff... sniff...