19 months & pacifier free

Ben is 19 months old today...ever so much closer to 2 years old. Yikes! Did I say that?? Is that the "cup is half empty" in me or the "half full"? I don't want to even think about him being close to 2 yet, so maybe it is "half empty." As the title above states, we are pacifier free now since Monday. I put them all away Sunday night and he has not even complained. He is very reliant on his little blue hand-blanket, though. We've had to start leaving his closet light on for him at bedtime. Could we have reached the "afraid of the dark" stage already? I bought a nightlight for him today. Walmart was clearancing out the Tonka items, so I bought the matching nightlight and fleece blanket. We still can't tell if he's going to be more into cars and trucks or into balls. He loves both equally.