Bye-Bye Binky!

It's finally here. The moment I have been dreading for the past year and a half. . . taking away the binky. Let's just make something clear right from the start. Yes, Neeley loved her binky, but I loved it much, much more! It has never let me down when I really needed it. When Neeley was tired, it put her to sleep. When she was crying, it instantly shhhhed her. When I just needed a moment of peace and quite, who did I turn to first? The binky. So farewell ol' pal! You have been there when I really needed you most. Your beautiful shades of pink and purple have given me peace of mind the last year or so. You have been on top of my list of "Things I Cannot Live Without". I have searched for you in places I have never dared venture before. I have reached into crevices and dark, dirty places just to find the comfort that only you can bring. So long, dear friend! Hopefully you will be forgotten by the time the new baby comes. We can only hope.

OK, so now that I've gotten that off of my chest, here's the rest of the story.

I decided to take away Neeley's binky four days ago. Yes, it was probably one of the hardest parenting decisions I have had to make so far. She pretty much got rid of her own bottle when she was ten months old, but she has had a major binky addiction, and therefore, so have I. It was pretty much an instant fix for any situation . . . sad, exhausted, excited, scared. All I had to do was "give her the plug" and life was good. She would suck so hard on her binky, it would make the loudest, funniest noises. Then she would take a fringe from her fleece blanket and tuck it under her binky against her top lip and rub her nose with another fringe. It was the cutest thing ever!

It has been a rough few days. She has a hard time settling down to take a nap or go to bed at night. She just doesn't know what to do. I will say that it has went better than I thought it would. Wish us luck!