Adios, Passy

Ty has had some big goodbyes this week. We said Goodbye to Nana, Papa and Carol as they returned to Alabama after a wonderful visit. We said Goodbye to the cast that helped his right tibia heal over the past month. And today, we were told we had to say Goodbye to his passies.

The unfortunate news was delivered to him within minutes of his diagnosis with pneumonia. I let Ty have the passy when we went to the doctor today because he had a high fever, an awful cough, he'd had a tough weekend, and I figured the passy would offer him a little consolation. The truth is, I had allowed the passy to become a major source of comfort over the month with the cast. Where we had pretty much limited it to nighttime pre-cast, after the broken leg I was letting him have it whenever he wanted. Sometimes he'd have one in his mouth and one in each hand. Sometimes he'd have three in his mouth. He would often have one as he ate (Passy, bite of food, Passy, bite of food...) He was quickly becoming an addict, and I wasn't looking forward to the day we would finally say, "no more." I thought we would wait until we got through the cast and then we would wean him of it. The doctor took one look at the passy in his mouth, looked at ME and said, "he is too old for a passy. You need to go home and throw them all away today." Ugh. Ty refused to look at the doctor when he told him the same.

Ty let me throw away the passy that was in his mouth, although Doc had given us a lollipop as an immediate replacement. The lollipop was gone before our x-ray visit (horrors), the shot of antibiotics that followed the x-ray exam, and the drive home with a leg that was sore from the shot. We talked about where we might send the passies. Maybe Lightnin' McQueen or Mater could use them? Mickey Mouse? We settled on Baby Goofy. When naptime came, I tried to put Ty down sans passy, but he really really wanted it... and he still had a fever... and he had pneumonia... and what harm would it be to give him that little sleep aid for just one more nap? As I was pondering options, he came in with a green passy he'd pulled from his hidden stash. I relented. He went right to sleep, and had a nice long nap.

A few hours later, he entered the dining room with matted hair, groggy eyes, his Cars sunglasses hanging on his shirt collar, and that green passy in his hand. He held up the passy and said, "I think Baby Goofy is going to need a green passy", and he handed it to me. We put it in a Thomas the Train lunchbox (his choice) to save for when we see Baby Goofy, hopefully later this summer. He did not ask for a passy the rest of the day.

Bedtime was a challenge tonight. We bathed the kids, then fed them and gave Ty a dose of Motrin for his fever and the pain reliever + cough syrup the doctor had prescribed. We expected the meds to calm him down and help him sleep soundly. Within 20 minutes of giving him the medicine, it was clear that whatever was in that cough syrup DIDN'T cause drowsiness. John called his parents and Ty grabbed the phone and talked non-stop for half an hour. The kids were in bed by 8:30, but Ty didn't fall asleep until almost midnight when John finally cuddled him up in our bed. He never cried, he was just wired. I kept thinking we were going to have to pull out a passy, but as far as I know, he didn't ask for it. Success! Well, success in terms of our progress toward breaking a habit. We are likely going to have to suffer the repercussions of our lover-of-sleep who couldn't calm down until the wee hours of the morning. Maybe this will just make him extra-tired for his nap tomorrow and ready for a good night's sleep tomorrow evening. We will certainly hold off on the cough syrup in the hours leading up to bedtime.

Lauren Clay started drama camp this week. They're doing "Go Dog Go". More on that after I get a good night's sleep... I'm off to bed...