Bye Bye Binkies!!

I can't believe it's really true! The last time Carrie had a binky was was Sunday, (Mother's Day) in the car on the way home from Mesa.

It was past bedtime when we got home. We did a very quick version of the bedtime routine and took her to her room to go to sleep. She said she wanted to sleep on her bed's little stepstool, and not get up into her bed. Thinking I could motivate her a little bit, I popped the binky out of her mouth and said if she wanted it back, she needed to climb into her bed and lay on the pillow. She said she didn't care, so I took all her spares from her shelf, left her on the stepstool, and said goodnight.

After only a few minutes she came out of her room, found me in the hall sorting laundry and said she wanted to sleep in Brigham's crib. I tried offering her binky if she'd sleep in her own bed, but she said no. She cried a little when I closed the door to Brigham's room, but after a long day of playing in Mesa, she was really tired and fell asleep pretty quickly. Without a binky.

She woke up at 5am when Justin left for work crying out for me. As soon as I heard her, I thought, "Oh no.... She already made it through one whole night.... I hope she'll go back to sleep for another couple hours without a binky...."

I went into the crib and she said she needed to go potty. Now I was thinking, "No way, she gave up the binky and self-potty trained in one night?!" It totally didn't happen though. She really just needed a diaper change. Then she said she wanted to lay down in my room so I got her a pillow and blanket for the floor. She asked for her binky, but I wanted to see if I could keep it up so I tried, "The binkies are all gone..." She said sadly, "Oooh, ok...." and fell asleep until 9:15. I love sleeping in. What a wonderful late Mother's Day present.

And she hasn't had a binky since.

She asked for it a couple times the first day or two, and I told her they were "all gone". When that started to get old, I told her we gave them to some of her new baby cousins. I asked her if she thought baby Jacey and baby Rose needed binkies. She replied, "Yeah, Baby Jacey need a binky?" When I nodded, she looked a little sad, but said, "Oook...." After a couple of days she didn't even ask for it anymore.

The one downside I've seen so far?.... She has not napped until today. Seriously?! She didn't nap Monday through Friday. At all.

She's been mostly pleasant, until about dinnertime. By then she's tired AND hungry. Not a good combo. Today though, she napped for three hours! Finally! Hallelujah!! I can tell when she's getting tired. I know some kids give up naps this early, but I think she still needs them. At least every other day.

She's been a binky lover her whole life. I don't know what we would have done without them!

I didn't write about it before because I didn't want to jinx it, but I think we can safely say we've officially kicked the binky habit. We'll miss you old friend :)