Goodbye Old Friend!

We have been talking about getting rid of the paci for months now. We recently explained to Will that some babies parents don't give them pacis...and isn't that sad....don't you think you should give them your paci so that they won't be sad anymore?? And he totally bought it.
Let me change the subject for just a moment-I promise it relates and will all tie together in a minute. John cannot take Will to Publix without buying him a toy. Not anything expensive...just a matchbox car or John Deere tractor. It isn't even that Will is begging for a toy, John just thinks it is fun to get him a toy when he takes him to Publix. Thankfully, they only make the trip about twice a month together :) This past Friday John took Will to pick up some things for the weekend and low and behold, Will brought home a John Deere dump truck. I jokingly gave John a hard time about how he seriously could not go to Publix without buying Will a toy! I looked at Will and said, "Pretty soon there won't be anymore toys to buy at Publix because Daddy will have bought them all." Without missing a beat he said, "No mama. Barking doggy flash light." Apparently this is what he had his mind set on for the next male bonding trip to Publix. I used this opportunity to then say that maybe when he was a big boy without a paci, the barking dog flashlight would be a fun treat.
For about a week he has talked about giving his paci to a baby who "not have a paci" so he could have the barking dog flash light. Today for some reason as soon as I picked him up from school that is the first thing he said. We talked long and hard about the fact that if indeed he gave up his paci, come bedtime he wouldn't be getting a paci. He said he understood and was fine with it. John and I were planning on doing away with the paci over Thanksgiving but I felt like he was taking the initiative and wanting to do it himself so I wasn't going to tell him no and keep the paci against his will :)
We decided that the tiniest baby we knew was Baby Ally down the street. They are dear friends of ours (who by the way do give their baby a paci, but Will doesn't know that....).
Once outside, it looked like Will was having second thoughts.....but we walked to the cul-de-sac and Will was such a big boy! He opened the mailbox all by himself....Shoved his paci in there and closed the lid.......
He sat on the curb and looked like he might be regretting his decision.....But then I reminded him of what an awesome BIG boy he was and told him to race me back to the house to get Daddy so we could go and get the barking dog flash light. He turned back into his happy little self!

We had a few tears tonight right after bath. But once he got over it and we just redirected him to other things he hasn't mentioned it. He went to sleep just like on a normal night and we haven't heard a peep from him.

Now if only a barking dog flash light would convince him to use the potty!