Paci Send-Off Part Deux

Inspired by the success of the first paci send-off, last month, Kennedy kissed all of her pacis good-bye. We followed the same model we used for Claire and started by prepping Kennedy verbally for a few weeks by telling her that her binks were going to go up, up, up to Heaven. We then held a party complete with helium balloons for the official transport of the pacifiers. When the big day finally arrived we all went outside and Dave tied Kennedy's pacis to the balloons one-by-one.

We then gave Kennedy the chance to get one last quick suck in and then she was able to launch them off herself. There were some tense moments when Kens took her paci and the attached balloon and ran. It took her a few minutes to come back to us ready to say good-bye. When she did ultimately let go she would cheer and jump, surrounded by her family doing the same. She felt so proud, but was often tenuous as well.

Our last set of balloons were a little overwhelmed by the final cluster of pacis and they slowly took flight and then were snagged on a power line. Kens stood speechless staring at them and I worried that the daily reminder of her snagged paci could really undermine the send-off. Dave sent our nephew to get his BB gun to try to shot the balloons down, but miraculously it un-snagged and took flight.

Kennedy has handled her binks good-bye really well. She cried for them a few times in the first few days after the launch and replayed the footage on my phone of the send-off for an hour straight several days in a row, until she accidentally deleted it (really sad day for nostalgic mom and dad). I know it may seem like a little thing, but I was so proud of Kennedy's bravery and the time she took to process out the bittersweet big change.