Down to One Nap and a New Fondness for Blankies

Ethan is growing up too quickly! We have transitioned him this week from two 1 1/2 hour naps to one 3+ hour nap. It has actually been really easy to switch him to this new schedule, and he has adapted to it very well. It's so strange to have a big chunk of time in the afternoon to get things done-I haven't had that in a long time!
We have been fortunate that, at least up to this point, Ethan has been a great sleeper. When we took the pacifier away at 4 months, he took a little while to learn how to self soothe, but ever since we haven't had any problems. He never found his fingers to suck instead, and he didn't have an attachment to any sort of "lovie" or special item that he required to sleep. It's been really nice not to have to worry about ensuring that we have a specific stuffed animal or blanket with us when we travel or visit my parents in Kokomo. Perhaps until now! As it has gotten colder this winter, I started putting a fleece blanket in the crib with him when he sleeps. He loves holding the blanket and rubbing the fleece between his fingers. He knows that we call it a "blankie", and now whenever I put him in his crib to sleep he'll say "B,B,B" or what sounds like "blankie" and gets upset until you hand him a blanket. He also loves to drag a blankie or multiple blankies (I've seen him with 3 or 4 at one time) around the house with him. Looks like we better ensure that several of these are packed with us when we travel over Christmas!