Toochie Trouble

Ok, first off ... the pacifier in our house is called a "toochie".  I'm not exactly sure that's how it's spelled, but it looks right to me.  It's pronounced "too" with the "oo" sounding the the "oo" in "look" and then "chee".  There you have it ... toochie.  It's what my dad's family called pacifiers and that's the only name I've ever used for them ... so it stuck.

Anyway, it's becoming an issue in our house.  Here's what I mean.  Brooks loves his toochie.  He sleeps with it, plays with it and now ... he drops it.  The other day we were sitting reading stories and he took the toochie out of his mouth, held it out and dropped it on the floor.  Not a big deal, right?  Then he looked at me and ... wait for it ... CRIED!  He cried as if I, the big mean mom, had just taken it from him and launched it across the room.  I was a bit puzzled by this since HE was the one to drop it.  So I picked it up and gave it back to him.  He had the begrudged expression of "well, that's better".  Hmmm, not sure what to do about this.

But here's the bigger problem.  While Brooks sleeps at night the toochie will eventually fall out of his mouth.  Then when he wakes up, he'll fuss until he can find it again.  Up until now he used to find it on his own and tada ... problem solved and back to sleep.  Now all of a sudden, he goes into these crying fits when he wakes up without it.  So I drag my weary self into his room (thinking perhaps it's lost in the blakent or something) only to find the toochie right next to his head!  Aarrggg!  "YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN THIS YOURSELF" I want to scream.  But of course, I don't.  That would take too much energy when I can barely even open my eyes.  But wait ... it gets worse.  This doesn't happen just once or even twice a night.  Oh no.  We're up to four and six times a night he goes into these crying fits becuause of a lost (but not so lost) toochie.

(sigh) So I don't know what to do.  Chris and I have talked about it.  We should just let him cry until he falls back asleep, we decide.  Yes, that will work.  Until it's 2am and he's been crying for over half and hour, meaning we haven't slept in over half an hour. 

I know he hasn't been feeling well and perhaps even teething, so I'm really hoping this is just a phase that will pass ... quickly.  But then I think, should we just wean him from the toochie?  Would that solve our problem?  And how exactly does one remove a child's item to which he is extremely attached?  (sigh again)  I'd certainly welcome any ideas or advice for our toochie troubles.  I'm stumped!