The binky fairy

3 years ago, as a new mother I was determined not to offer my child a binky. That lasted about 6 hours. Reese had acid reflux as a baby and cried at the top of her lungs most of the time that she spent awake, which was around 18 hours a day. We quickly offered her a binky and it helped. She became deeply addicted to this binky. At around 18 months I transitioned her to only having her binky for nap time and night time. It took her about a week but she adjusted well to not having it during her awake hours. Once she turned 2 she began to attempt to manipulate us to get her binky during awake hours. She figured out that if she was sick we would let her have it so she would often say “I am really, really sick- I need a binky” or she would say “I am so tired- I need a binky”. We wouldn’t give into this but for the last year we would often have a lot of whining about wanting a binky.

We have been preparing her for the past 6 months that when she turned 3 she would be a “big girl” and wouldn’t have binkys anymore. She knew it was coming and I was anticipating hell for at least a week. She turned 3 on a Friday and her birthday party was the following day, Saturday. We had family in that weekend and a lot going on so we decided we would implement no binkys on Sunday night. That Sunday 2 sweet 6 year old girls that live on our cul-de-sac played with Reese all day long. They played babies, ran around, had a tea party and drew with chalk. Reese had a blast and felt like such a big girl. I used that to my advantage. That night I told her that those little girls let her play with them because she is a big girl now. They don’t use binkys so if she is going to keep playing with them she can’t use them either. She really soaked this up and did so well with it. We put all of her binkys on the front bench for the binky fairy to come and pick up. The fairy came and got the binkys while Reese was in the bath and she went to deliver them to the little babies that needed them. She did so well with this big transition and I am so proud of her. During the week one of her teacher’s forgot that she wasn’t taking binkys anymore and offered her one for nap. Reese responded “no, I don’t use binkys I am a big girl”. When I heard this I was SOOOOO proud of her and pretty surprised. That Friday we took her to chuck e cheese to celebrate the week without binkys.

Ella didn’t take a binky until her 1^st birthday. It was like she became aware at that point that her sister used them and her friends at school had them and she insisted on having one also. We planned to rid her of them last week also but we quickly gave up on that. Instead we have transitioned her to only having them at sleeping times. So far we have been able to hide the fact that she is still using them for sleeping from Reese. I don’t look forward to this conversation once Reese discovers this but we will cross that bridge when we have to.

I am so proud of Reese and cannot believe how big she is getting!

3 yr and 18 month update

Reese:

You just turned 3 (where did the time go)! You are such an amazing little girl. You have gotten so tall and skinny over the past year, I miss my cute chunky baby but you have turned into a beautiful little girl. We had such trouble getting you to poop on the potty but I think we have finally gotten there (or you are really close anyways). You have been peeing on the potty perfectly for months. You now weigh 35 lbs. (80th percentile) and you are 39.93 inches tall (97th percentile). You wear a size 4t and wear a size 8.5 shoe. You have long curly golden brown hair that was recently trimmed for the first time. You love your sister so much and are so quick to comfort or protect her when it is needed. You fight with her passionately but you also love her with the same passion and play with her so well at times. You talk often about our coke zero and say it is spicy but always want a sip, you love to dance, your favorite movie is Tangled, your best friend is Reagan, you still love Yo Gabba Gabba and you love chocolate like your mother. You absolutely love the color purple, you love to have me paint your toes and fingers and you like to beg to paint mine too. You began calling me and your dad by mom or dad months ago…what happened to mommy and daddy? You are becoming a better sleeper, you were a terrible sleeper as a little baby, became an amazing sleeper once Ella was born and became no so great around 6 months ago. You wake up really early and come down the stairs multiple times during the night sometimes. You are so imaginative and come up with such wild ideas. You are the best at naming your toys and other things, you come up with wild names…Chi Chi, sweetness, Squeakles, Balowich, James, Puppers, Lyla cow and Punzel- just to name a few. You are coming up with new things out of nowhere every day- you now say “that is amazing”, “that is awesome”,  or “that is ridiculous". You just got rid of your binky's last Sunday and are doing so much better than I thought you would have considering how deep the addiction is. There are so many more things that I know I am not thinking of but the bottom line is that you are the most amazing, loving, caring, beautiful, sweet, thoughtful little girl and your dad and I love you with all of our hearts.

Ella:

You are now 18 months old. You have made our family complete and are such a perfect addition. You love your sister so much and try to do the things that you see her doing. You definitely know how to push her buttons but at the end of the day you two have a bond that I pray is never broken. You now weigh 25 lbs. 9 oz. (70th percentile) and you are 32.68 inches tall (75th percentile).

You wear a size 2t and wear a size 6 shoe. Your hair is finally starting to get some length and is curling up just like your sister’s did at this age. You have around 10 teeth, most of which have come in the last couple of months. You wear a size 4 diaper. You love to play with babies and will talk to them and comfort them. You love babies that have pacifiers and always want help to put the pacifier in. Your vocabulary is really starting to take off, you are saying: ball, mama, dada, mommy, daddy, baby, night-night, bye-bye, hi, mine, no, Reese, Gigi, Emmie, Pop pop, Barkley, Chelsea, more, cow, bird and many other words. You can make many animal sounds including the cow, monkey, elephant, bird, dog, cat and fish (move your mouth like a fish anyways). You love to dance and you really get into it, you have moves and I don’t know where they came from. You are so much fun and I am so blessed to be your mommy.