Last weekend we planned on taking Avery to Build-A-Bear to say goodbye to Paci, however she got sick and we didn't feel like it was good timing to take her Paci away from her when she was ill. So, today we are having our Hello Kitty, Bye Bye Paci "party" at Build-A-Bear.

We invited a few friends to make the event even more special, and perhaps encourage others to get rid of theirs too. I got the idea from a mom website, and boy let me tell you there are about a million ways to get rid of Paci from snipping the end to the Binky Fairy.


Since Avery got a Hello Kitty DVD from her Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Stacy she has loved Hello Kitty. She has a few dollar store jewelry items that are Hello Kitty, and some Hello Kitty stickers that she gets to put on her Bed Chart if she stays in bed at night. So when I saw Hello Kitty at Build-A-Bear I knew this would be the way to go.

We've been prepping Avery for a while now telling her that we are going to get Hello Kitty and put her Paci inside and she will not be able to get it out, but she will be able to keep Hello Kitty with her whenever she wants. She has said a few times that she's excited and is a big girl and wants to get rid of Paci and even though she only uses it at nap and night time (and even then typically it falls out,) we're still a little nervous as to how well she'll do without it, but we feel it's time and she certainly understands it's time to say, "goodbye."

This Hello Kitty is very special, it is the 35th Anniversary Hello Kitty and even comes with a necklace for Kitty or Avery to wear. Avery was very adamant about getting Hello Kitty from the time we suggested giving up Paci.

The Big Party


I had invited a few friends from my mom's groups to join us in celebrating Avery's big day. Unfortunately some of them couldn't make it, but we still had a great turn out of Avery's friends, some who built their own animal and others who bought accessories for the pets they already had. You're welcomed Build-A-Bear!

Fortunately, and even though it was a weekend, BAB wasn't too busy, we did have a small party ahead of us but that gave us more time to remind Avery why we were getting Hello Kitty in the first place. Once it was her turn she gave the man Kitty, told him her name and got to step on the pedal to "fill Hello Kitty's Belly." I think at this point Avery was enjoying herself but being a little shy since she didn't know the man who worked there.

She listened to his instructions about warming up Kitty's heart and making a wish very intently. Of course you don't want to make a mistake when you're creating a new life! After she placed the heart inside Kitty she then took her Paci put it inside Hello Kitty without a second thought and said, "Bye, bye." We tried to make it a huge deal and were very excited and proud of her.

Afterwards we did the routine BAB things, like washing her Kitty off, picking out clothes (can't have a naked Kitty!), and printing out her birth certificate. Avery even gave her Kitty a big kiss, although I think she was a little confused as to why Kitty doesn't have a mouth.

We got a chance to play in the mall play area with our friends and even had a fun lunch at the food court, one of Avery's favorites, Chick-Fil-A.

All in all Avery did a great job of saying goodbye to her Paci and was excited to become such a big girl.

Check out some of the video we got of Avery washing her Kitty and taking good care of her.