Big Girl

I won't lie, that I fear Elsie will be on a bottle until she is 10.  Am I just being weird because she is my one and only child? Probably.  If we get more children, they will probably have a bottle AND a binki until they graduate high school.  It's different for the first child.  So that's what I hear.  Josh thinks she is still a baby, but I think she is a big girl.  Plus the fact that I do not like her bottles, they leak all the time!!!!  Grrrrr!  Josh decided to go hunting, so I took it upon myself to begin the horrible journey of Elsie getting rid of her bottles.  This all started last Friday night (October 28th).  I knew I was going to have to do this when Josh was gone, because he would give in and give Elsie her bottle.  I was going to have to be the strong one.  My friend was coming over with her baby Friday night.  So I took Elsie to Target and let her pick out a new sippy cup because she was going to give her bottles to Baby Kennzie.  I am pretty sure Elsie had no idea what this really meant, but she picked out a super cute Woody & Buzz sippy cup with a smile!  When Baby Kennzie came over, I had Elsie put all her bottles in a gift bag and give it to Kennzie.  She put the bag in the baby's carseat and giggled.  I talked it up all night long about how she was so nice to give her bottles to baby Kennzie and how she was a big girl now.  She did great...until it came time to go to bed.  She cried for a bit, but I told her she could have her NEW WOODY SIPPY CUP!  I was excited for her, she didn't seem to think it was very funny.  She finally fell asleep (keep in mind Elsie has fallen asleep with a bottle in her mouth her entire life).  It was a sad night for me.  I felt like a bad mom, but I knew it had to happen.  Elsie would look at the sippy cup I was handing to her, and go to reach for it, then realize it wasn't a bottle, and she would cry.  It was so sad!  She slept until 4:30.  Woke up and wanted a bottle.  I got 3 different sippy cups of milk from the fridge, tried handing each one to her.  She cried when she looked at each one.  She fell asleep and woke up again at about 5:30.  She was so sad!  I laid there and cuddled with her and told her it would be ok (all the while, feeling like the most horrible mother in the entire world!).  She cried for about an hour.  The longest hour of my life!  Believe me, I wanted to give in so bad, but I had to stay strong!  Usually Elsie would say "bottle" when she would wake up in the middle of the night.  This night, she knew where her bottles were.  She didn't even ask.  She just cried.  This made it that much harder.  Finally, to get her to calm down, I took her into the living room and started a movie.  She immediately calmed down and by 7:00 am she was back to sleep.  I took her back into the bedroom and we slept until about 9:00.  WE SURVIVED NIGHT ONE OF NO BOTTLE!!!!!!!!  I coundn't believe it!!  The next day was normal, until naptime arrived.  She finally fell asleep in the car while I was running errands..  She refused any sippy cup all day long.  She did take a good nap.  I told Josh to stay away for one more night.  I had stayed strong this long, he wasn't going to come home and reverse what I had done.  I was prepared for another long night.  She finally fell asleep (so sad, of course).  She didn't cry as much Saturday night going to bed, but she didn't drink any milk either!  She woke up around 5:00, I asked her if she wanted some milk she said, "yes" so I got her her Woody sippy cup and she drank it for about 5 minutes, and passed it to me and went back to sleep.  She did this 2 more times before we finally got up at about 8:00.  WE SURVIVED NIGHT TWO OF NO BOTTLE!!!!!!!!!  Night 2 was much more painless!  It has been about the same process each night since.  She will drink a little and go right back to sleep.  We are slowly getting back on a schedule of naps BEFORE 4pm and bedtime BEFORE 10 pm.  It has been a long 4 days, but Elsie is officially off her bottle!  And she isn't even 10 yet!  I am so proud of her.  I just hope she will start drinking milk again and that she will learn how to put herself to sleep without a bottle. 
Moral to the story:  Don't ever start putting your child to sleep using food/drink.  Mothers follow your instincts and make your husbands follow through with what you know is best.  I knew we would have problems with Elsie not being able to put herself to sleep clear back when she was about 2 weeks old.  Josh would always say, "She was tired, she wouldn't drink anymore"  Bless his heart for being the best dad ever!  I just hope I never have to break her of bad habits again.  It isn't fun.
Needless to say, I am glad this is finally over.  I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I am so proud of Elsie!  I love everything about being a mom!  Thank you Amanda for allowing me to have this opportunity!  I know the Lord is present in our lives, because Elsie is a perfect fit into our lives.  Josh and I are so happy!  We are so blessed!!!!  THANK YOU!!!!