Thanksgiving and comfort items

On Sunday, we took away Freida's pacifier.

She isn't quite 2 yet, but it seemed like it was far past time for her to be done with it. There's never a really happy time of life to take away something that helps you sleep, or feel better after a traumatic event.

Her first nap was, of course, a tragedy of Greek proportions. She does fine at night but during the day she just won't settle down without a fight. She had a very specific recipe for slumber during daylight hours which included a couple of special blankets, a pacifier, a fistful of her own hair, and recently she's added this little stuffed seahorse that plays classical music. The absence of any one of these things meant an exhaustive hunt for the missing object before nap time could occur.

Oh, well.

I finally found the last pacifier today, behind her crib. I quickly put it in my pocket but I think she heard its familiar clacking noise which comes from being coupled with a pacifier keeper. I took it out to the kitchen and considered putting it back in the silverware drawer, where we keep them. After an internal struggle, I put it in the trash. It felt like a loss.

All of the other kids gave up napping when their pacifiers left, except for Tag who never would take one. Princess stopped at the tender age of 13 months, far before I was ready for her to be awake all day long. I don't even remember when we took Pebbles', but she immediately latched onto her blanket which is still her favorite comfort item.

Freida says "wadder" now instead of "waher". She also says "whassat?" and "where go?" and "neeth" (please) and "dank you". She scoots chairs around and turns lights on and off and has taken to drawing on my walls. I just received a wall touchup kit from a nice maintenance man so I can cover up about 6 square feet of permanent marker damage.

Anyway, I'm putting together a mini cookbook of what I'll be making for Thanksgiving this year. We're inviting friends and any family in the area on over and cooking up a big tom turkey.

Recipes on the list:

Stuffed Mushrooms
Brined Turkey (if you use this brine, only use about 1 cup of sugar)
Roasted Squash
Mashed potatoes
Homemade cranberry sauce

We have friends bringing rolls and a couple of pies. I'll likely get some whipping cream for that.