Thursday, April 15, 2010

You Gotta Believe ...

That the toddler years are going to go by so quickly and that we're going to miss SweeTart's quirky, bossy mannerisms.  She had her two year old appointment on Tuesday (pictures of her weekend birthday party will be coming) and the doc explained that she is the size of a three and a half year old - except in weight.  She is off the charts in her weight.  It is time to put the bottle to rest.  But .... I am not ready for it.  I think the thought of taking away her "baba" is more stressing to me than it will be to her.  Or maybe not. 

See, the Husband has a Plan.  He has a Plan for almost everything in life.  His Plan for taking away the Baba is simple.  Take SweeTart to the store with her birthday gift certificates and have her buy a whole slew of new sippy cups....any type her heart can imagine ... Dora, Elmo, Minnie ... whoever she can find ... as many as our cart can hold...and when we get home, there will be a "big girl" ceremony in which all the new sippy cups will be placed in the cabinet where the bottles are currently stored and the bottles will be tossed into the trash can and taken outside immediately (so I don't cave!!)  The end. 

Do we think it will work?  I am not so sure.  She relies heavily on her baba in order to "wind down" at certain times of the day and before bed.  I know it is my fault, I've spoiled her beyond belief.  But she is number three.  The baby.  Quite possibly our last little one.  Why shouldn't we spoil her a little (especially if it means that we're going to get a few minutes of peace and quiet??)  I can see her now jumping in her bed crying "mommy .... daddy .... baba .... baba ... pleeeease."  It is going to break my heart to tell her "no."  Can't the doctor just come up with a better plan?  She stressed that she is a BIG girl.  She stressed that the bottle will damage her mouth and her teeth (we had that with the other two because they had the binky for so long but once it was gone, the mouth corrected itself.)   She stressed that it will cause issues with her speech ... as she listened to the girl tell her brother and sister to "no - go away" when they got to close to her when she was being examined.  And the girl who told me "No, I don't think so" last week.  And the girl who counted to ten in Spanish the other day.  She often counts to ten in English.  I'm pretty sure that her speech is on track.  But the guilt ... I hate listening to her cry because she wants something.  I hate it when it sounds like her heart is breaking because she can't have something that she "needs."  (Yes, she is my third.  You would think that I've toughened up by now....NOT.)

Wish us luck.  Doc did say that it will be a rough 5 - 7 days after we decide to take it away.  And she needs to see her again in 6 months so that she can see if her weight has leveled off.  If not, then what???? 

Ok - I'm going to stop stressing for the day.  I'm going to give myself a fever blister if I keep up the worrying at this rate.  It is a beautiful day outside today ... maybe I will walk at lunchtime to help calm my nerves .... enjoy your day wherever you are.

2 comments:

Cara Smith said...

I wish you luck. I started introducing the sippy at 6 months (but we didn't use bottles much). The ninny (pacifier) was a different story for both my kids. I think they were closer to 2-1/2.

Connie said...

We made the transition without much trouble and we did the same thing your hubby is suggesting. Let them pick out sippies. They like the idea of being *big* girls and boys.

Good Luck!