Operation Big Boy: Phase One

We realized before moving that this was going to be a transition year for Simon. It seems there are a lots of "baby" things that we're planning to have him say goodbye to somewhere in the vicinity of his second birthday. We don't really have any hard-and-fast timelines in mind, but now with Poppy (aka TaterTot) on the way, we do have a end-date goal for at least three things: 1) giving up the pacifier, 2) weaning entirely, and 3) moving from crib to bed. Toilet learning would be on the list too, but I'm guessing we won't attempt that until after baby arrives, unless Simon shows a real interest before then.

So we've had these in mind with the rough idea of sometime between now and May for them to happen--preferably not too close to May, because we don't want him to feel, for instance, that he's being kicked out of his room so the baby can sleep there (why add fuel the likely baby-resentment-fire?). I also didn't necessarily have an order in mind for those events. Maybe he would transition to a bed more easily if he still had a binky to sleep with and nursed before bed...on the other hand, maybe he would more easily give up the binky and nursing if he still had the safety and comfort of his familiar crib to sleep in...and so on.

Recently, however, an opportunity presented itself that made the choice of which of these to tackle for us. Several weeks ago (months? I lose track of time), Simon started chewing on his binky in a new way, which creates holes in the nipple in record time. This is no good. Not only do pacifiers become choking hazards once they get a hole or crack, they're also not cheap, and we were not fond of the idea of replacing binkies every few weeks. So when he bit a hole through his nearly-last binky a few weeks ago, I brought him to K-mart with me to buy a new one, and on the fly decided to just go ahead and bring an end to the binky days. In the store, we made a deal: he got to pick out all by himself his last set of binkies (sold in pairs), but with the understanding that these were the very last binkies we would buy him and that whenever a binky gets a hole, it has to go in the trash. He listed quite earnestly while I laid out the terms, thought for a moment, and agreed. We went home, he was thrilled with his new orange binkies, and all was well. We found a missing binky, lost a different binky, and otherwise shuffled a few around unintentionally...and then early last week, we arrived at the last binky. It was green. He had chewed through the brand new orange ones in record time, and I didn't know how long this one would last. Unfortunately, he was (is) also sick, and I just hoped it would get him through the misery of his cold, as I both did not plan to break the agreement by buying him more, but really didn't want to make him give up his comfort device when he was sick, either.

Sunday was the day. Saturday I noticed a hole in the binky, but decided to let him go another night--we had company over, including little Wayne who had his own binkies, and Simon is still recovering from his cold, so it just didn't seem fair to make him give it up under the circumstances. Sunday morning, however, I showed him the hole. He knew what it meant, and protested. I said he could wait until after church, but that then we would have to throw green binky in the trash.

As you can see in the video, he had to work up a little courage to do it--but he did! We have had some tears both yesterday and today, but all in all its gone surprisingly well so far...and most surprisingly for me, no tears going to bed last night. He asked for it, I reminded him that it was gone and he was all done with binkies, and he went to sleep without asking for it again. Here's hoping tomorrow goes just as smoothly!

Bye-bye Binky:

For those of you coming to visit in the next few days, compliments on what a big boy he is have been quite well-received :).