The Demise of Suzie

Most new parents will recognize this little green life saver as the pacifier that many hospitals send home with newborns. It's trademarked name is "Soothie". But around our house, the more personified name of "Suzie" evolved. For Jack, Suzie has been a close companion for 2 years, 9 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days. But on July 6, Suzie met her untimely demise.


I guess it is no surprise that this little rubber pacifier would ultimately wear out. After all, Jack has a full set of teeth, and what better way to exercise his muscles of mastication, than by testing the integrity of Suzie.

And just to set the record straight, the tip of Suzie did not break off in Jack's mouth. Jack had bitten through the tip just enough to reveal significant damage. For Jack's safety, my wife Jennifer removed the tip so that it wouldn't become a choking hazard. Unfortunately this moment occurred while we were in the car on our way to my parents' house, and Jack's other two Suzies were resting comfortably at home.

After the tip was removed, Jack had absolutely no interest in this particular Suzie. This presented a good news/bad news scenario. The good news was that perhaps this was a great opportunity to break Jack of the pacifier habit. The bad news was that if this was the wrong time to break him, then we were in for a long day.

As it turned out, Jack had kind of a rough day. He didn't eat much, he didn't get to nap at his usual time, and he fell on the concrete not once, not twice, but thrice. He's got the skinned knee to prove it.

By the time we left my parents' house, Jack was in a thoroughly sour mood. Suzie would have provided much needed comfort for the Little Guy, but since Suzie was out of commission, Jack had to suck it up like a big boy. And he did. Jack fell asleep in his car seat after only a few miles, and was out for the entire hour-long trip.

After we got home, we put Jack to bed for the rest of the night. He slept through dinner, and on an empty stomach. But with one of his two remaining intact Suzies to go to bed with, Jack will have pleasant dreams tonight.