Isn't it about time!?

My daughter is 2 and a half and she still sleeps with her binky. There I said it! Ok- well that statement's not entirely correct. She did sleep with her binky every night of her life until tonight! We finally did it, we cut off the binky! It was a big day for me. Seriously, I've been nervous about it for awhile. Yesterday I was really stressing- ask Spencer! He's been wanting to get rid of the binky for a long time and I finally agreed to his nagging. We've been talking to Madi about being "almost 3" and not needing her binky for a few weeks now. I wanted to do a slow and gradual cut off. So we went from her having the binky whenever she wanted (a year ago), to only having it in her bed, to then getting it right before going to sleep (had to set this last rule cause Madi was wanting to spend way too much time in her bed- just to suck on her binky)! I knew the next step was to take it away completely, but it was just something I didn't want to deal with- first cause I was pregnant, then because we had a new baby..... but now with Elle sleeping through the night there's no more excuses!

So this morning we headed over to Build-A-Bear. Madi was thrilled. Before leaving we made sure to pack up all her binkies. We told Madi that if she wanted to take a friend home with her, she was going to have to pay for it with her binkies. She was never too happy about this idea and I truthfully thought it wasn't going to work.

But as soon as she picked out a favorite friend I knew I was wrong. I handed Madi the bag of binkies and she quickly agreed to give them away in exchange for her new monkey.

Madi helped stuff the monkey. She even picked out one of her binkies to put inside!

Then after a quick bath. . .

birth certificate making (Madi lovingly chose the name, "Anie Monkey"- thanks Madi). . .

and outfit choice. . .

Madi was ready to purchase her new friend!

Way to go Madi! I'm so proud of you for being such a big girl and willingly giving up your binkies for a new friend. If anyone knows what you're going through it's me. I was in your shoes exactly 27 years ago!

As for how it's going.... nap time this afternoon was rough. She cried for an hour straight, was quiet for maybe 20 or 30 minutes, and then cried for another half hour. When I got her up from her "nap", she happily tells me, "I was crying for my binky. Let's clean up this mess (pointing to her animals on the floor) so that we can find it!" After lots more reminding about giving her binkies in exchange for Anie Monkey, Madi went to sleep tonight without a fuss! I couldn't believe it! She talked in her bed for about 2 hours but was asleep by 9pm. I'm crossing my fingers that she doesn't wake up a gazillion times, crying for her binkies.