All done with pacifiers?

I've been thinking about taking Calvin's pacifier away from him lately. And today is happened. A few reasons why, actually: 1. His addiction to them lately has seemed to increase and he seems to want it all the time. 2. He still cries if I give it to him and he's still upset, having it in his mouth doesn't make him stop whatever he's upset about, it doesn't serve the same purpose it did when he was 4 months old. 3. I lose them constantly and am sick of depending on having one with me at all times just to "pacify" him. 4. He's two years old...definitely not a baby anymore. 5. I wish I had taken it away from him when he was 12 months old. 6. Having it in his mouth all the time keeps him from talking, which he needs to do more of. 7. Almost every picture I've taken of him in the last month has that thing in his mouth. I can't see his pretty smile and sweet little dimple on his left cheek. 8. He's still at that precious age where he can cry it out, if he gets any older I'd have to incorporate some sort of logic tactic that made sense to him when taking it away or deal with even bigger tantrums...no thanks, I'd rather not. Its bad enough already. Soooo....after his nap today, I got him out of his bed, he handed me all his "stuff" which includes his favorite blue blankie, two stuffed kitties and his paci. Seems in his mind, all of those things must be together to be comforting, but not anymore. Anyway, he gave me all his stuff so he could climb out on his own. He reached his arms out expecting me to hand him everything back, and I only gave him his kitties and his blanket. I think its still important for a child to have comfort objects, and blankies and kitties I totally approve of. He knew he was missing something, but I told him he didn't need his pacifier anymore. Of course he threw a fit, which I ignored. I stuck the beloved piece of plastic in my pocket and walked downstairs, knowing he would end up downstairs eventually. And he did, and he got over it. He played off and on, and at times he would get really upset, he would go search out his blankie, kitties, and then BEG me for his pacifier. He even found my diaper bag on top of the counter top and started digging, found one, and then heroically announced "here's mine!!" with the paci proudly in his mouth. I took it away immediately and told him he was done with them. Of course he threw a fit, so I just walked away figuring he would get over it soon enough. 10 minutes later, his cheeks were stained with tears and he clutched his blankie and kitties. I was starting to feel a little bad. He wanted to cuddle with me for awhile. I suppose after what he thought was a great find in the diaper bag was something I was going to take away, he was probably pretty frustrated and defeated. Dave encouraged me to not give in...we've made it this far and announced to him it was over, no more pacis. In fact, even though I had been thinking of taking it away for some time, I was blissfully ignoring the fact that time was ticking away and my little boy wasn't a toddling 13 month old baby anymore and in fact, a little boy who was growing older and working on completing his third year in life. Besides, some times the paci is downright convenient. It keeps him quiet for hours some times and he's never gone a night with out it. So tonight is his first night with out the paci. I told him no more pacifiers, but he could keep his blankie and kitties. He said "o-tay". That just confirmed to me that he 100% completely understood what was going on. I did the usual bed time routine...diaper change, pajamas on, brush teeth, read books...kisses, hugs, lights out, fan on, zip up tent, say goodnight. He did cry a little bit, but it wasn't even close to a tantrum. And he did great. I heard some noises come his room (babbling and talking) as I worked on getting Violet to bed. She always takes longer to get to bed so I get him down first. Its been an hour and I *think* he's asleep. At least I heard no more crying, and its silent upstairs. I will check on him before I go to bed, but I think this is it!! I just keep telling myself there will be times he probably freaks out again and wants it, but I can't give in, not now, not after I made such a big deal out of it and he's already learned that his relationship with that piece of plastic is over. Dave and I have been discussing the idea of taking it away from him ...but today it just happened, very much unplanned, but in a few days, he'll hopefully forget about it. It will be easier NOW than when he's three, and I knew it would have been easier if he was just one. I guess I live and learn. So I guess my advice to any moms reading this who have babies with pacifiers, take them away earlier than later! I wish I had done it loooong ago! Ahh...funny. I can hardly believe that I'm blogging about pacifiers. :D