Collin: was a pacifier baby! He loved that little thing, and I, of course, was convinced that I was a bad mom for allowing him to have it, that he would talk less because it would hinder his desire to open his mouth and let sound out, that others would judge me, and that his teeth would be forever destroyed, necessitating years of expensive orthodontia. Needless to say, at 18 months, we tried to wean him from the Binkie. He cried and cried and hung on the drawer that held the darn things - or it did until he started hanging on it. Ultimately, we gave up and gave in. He loved the Binkie until he was exactly two years old. On that date, we took it away, and he hardly even noticed. By then he was in love with Old Blue, the blanket my sister made him for his first birthday. It still sleeps with him every night; we aren't allowed to touch it, lay on, or otherwise disrespect it. It has been well-loved and suffered many holes and much repair stitches. (Still hasn't reached the status of my childhood blanket yet; I wore that thing down until it had three holes ... one for my head and one for each arm ... I wore it around like a poncho!)
Owen: loved a wooden ladybug rattle, which he drug around the floor as he crawled from room to room until it cracked open from too much wear! The second one ultimately also cracked. The third is in his keepsake box. Then he loved a red Ferrarri "matchbox" car from the movie CARS. We had three of them because they kept getting misplaced or lost in his bedsheets. Then he loved a little lime-sized football. We had eight of those. Owen always was carrying around something he loved in his hand! He never took to a pacifier or a blanket, although he does have an Old Green that still sleeps on his bed each night.
Kate: has many special loves! First, she loved a stuffed bunny. Then she added love for her "polka dot gankie" (she now says blankie, but it'll always be "gankie" to me). Around that same time (one?), she fell for a stuffed giraffe that she called "rabbit." Now she's added her unicorn Pillow Pet and a fuzzy green fleece blanket "that my grandma made to me." (Actually, the blanket was for ME to use in the middle of the night if I got cold nursing Kate. It matches the diaper bag and curtains in the nursery.) Kate still sleeps with each of the listed loves and OFTEN adds others to her bed (to the point that I can rarely find her or her mattress under the mound of animals and blankies)! She never took to a pacifier really either.
Eli: so far loves having a soft 1'x1' blankie ("lovey") covering his face or rubbing against his cheek as he falls asleep, sucking a pacifier. This is exactly how Collin used to fall asleep, except Collin also would rub the top of his head in a back-stroke motion with the top-side of his hand as he drifted off. Unlike Collin, E doesn't seem at all interested in the pacifier outside of the five minutes it takes him to put himself to bed. He's much more content sucking his fingers or toys or his own tongue during the day! (I used to - who am I kidding - still suck my tongue when I'm tired! If you see me doing it, it's a sure sign that I need to pack it in and hit the hay!)
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