And then there was one, pacifier.

Saturday, March 19, 2011, is a day that will be passed down through Karlin Clan lore.

It will be remembered as the day Erin and I took charge to curb an obnoxious habit.

For the longest time, Jacob has fallen asleep with two pacifiers--one in his mouth and other in his hand. On special occasions like flying and long-distance car rides, we would let him suck on a pacifier. And of course he needed to hold that second one. It became an automatic motion for him to stick out his hand.

At first it was cute, but it quickly became a nuisance. He would drop it or throw it. He would misplace it while sleeping and wake up crying. He NEEDED to hold a pacifier.

Pacifiers are designed to soothe babies through simulated suckling. They're a blessing when used appropriately.

They're annoying when your kid just wants to hold the damn thing.

So, on Saturday, we put an end to this ludicrous obsession. After all, he doesn't nap with a pacifier at day care.

That night, we made him sleep with only one paci. Jacob may not agree, but we thought we were offering a respectable compromise.

He will turn 2 years old in a few weeks. He shouldn't need a pacifier at all, period. But we decided to break up the pacifier breakup, so he won't completely hate us before he's a teenager.

We plan to take away the remaining pacifier after his birthday party. God help us.

At first, I was just going to hide the second pacifier and hope he wouldn't notice. Wishful thinking. Immediately he began looking for the pacifier. It was heartbreaking to watch him crouch on the floor, stick his butt in the air and look under the bed for his AWOL sleeping buddy.

Erin and I looked at each other with matching frowns. We didn't want him spending the entire night searching or waking up in the middle of the night to look for it. So we decided to show him the pacifier and explain to him it was going bye-bye.

He knew exactly what was transpiring. Not a second was spared before tears drenched his cheeks. He gave the pacifier a kiss goodbye and lied down in his bed.

As Erin stared at Jacob through the video monitor after putting him to bed, she said it was nice to see him just lying there holding Mickey, rather than twiddling the pacifier or scraping it against the wall or bed rails. On most nights, it would end up on the floor, causing him to wake up and lean over the bed to retrieve it.

Fifteen minutes later, he was asleep. One pacifier down, one to go. Cold turkey.