If you ever told me that my child will be dependent on a pacifier, I would have told you, I would never allow it, but guess what, I did, which is why it has become a day of tears and celebration at the same time.  The dependency became more intence as Bella got older, we noticed when she was about a year and a half, she would not leave anywhere or fall asleep without her paci.  Every time she would feel sick or get hurt, the first request out of her mouth, “I want my paci”.  We, (soft hearted) parents though, oh it’s ok, just another month or so and we will take it away and we finally put a date on the calendar (March 31^, 2012)  We talked to Bella about it a week in advance and she was very well aware that the day was coming and took advantage of her paci as much as she could.  As the day approached I was getting a little nervous knowing how attached she was to her dear paci and what it would take to just take it away.  I woke up in the middle of the night, looking for creative ideas of how to take it away and potentially make it fun for the child.  The one that hit home with me was sending it in the sky on a balloon.  We all know that Bella loves balloons so brining balloons into the picture will only make things better.  First thing in the morning I went to the local grocery store and bought 4 balloons (pink, purple, yellow and Princess Aurora for her to keep after the paci was gone)  It just happened that the weather was absolutely cruel that day, the wind was very stong and it was beginning to drizzle outside.  When Bella saw the balloons and heard that we are sending her paci on the balloon in the sky, she got excited and was eager to do just that.  As time came to walk outside and let it out, our baby girl got sad, finally realizing that it was it, she was letting it go.  Off it went up in the sky and landed just a few houses down due to the gusty winds, but Bella never knew that and for her the paci was really gone.  We continued with celebration of  a “big girl day” and served frozen yogurt with lots of sprinkles.  She loved every minute of it, until the nappy time came and both Barry and I thought we were going to loose our minds.  Our precious daughter cried so hard, that at the end both of us considered going and fishing out the paci, which of course we did not do and our baby girl moved on just after 48 hours of not having her paci.  She still brings it up from time to time, but only to say, “I don’t need a paci, I am a big girl now”.  Yes you are my sweet girl, yes you are!