Say goodbye!

GOODBYE.GOODBYE.GOODBYE.GOODBYE.GOODBYE.GOODBYE.GOODBYE.GOODBYE.

I have neglected to post one of the most important events of our year...THE BINKY POST. Corey and I had hashed and re-hashed the dilemma of the binky all year. We tried several things, we talked to him about it A LOT, saying he was getting too big to sleep with a binky, reminding him that his friend Jace doesn't use a binky, and even bribed him with ANYTHING he wanted! (For example..the big buzz light year that costs like 100$ or finally his first bike.)
He would act like he was willing to get rid of it but then he would get in bed and after about five or ten minuets we would hear the cute little voice, "Mommy, I can't sleep without my nigh-nigh."
Corey and I debated on whether to just say tough and let him have a fit for a week or wait till he was willing to give it up himself.
I thought that it might be more successful if he were to decide for himself that he wanted to get rid of it. He is the most persistent person I have ever met in my life and I had a strong feeling that our best bet would be if we could help him make the decision himself.
I decided to wait till pre-school started in the Fall and tell him they don't let kids go to pre-school unless they give their binkie's away. My friend Ashley even offered to have Conner over to her house for a sleep over honoring him and throwing away his binky, it was to be a Buzz Light Year theme. Tell me I don't have the most wonderful friend in the world.
Well our family was registered for a week at Aspen Grove in July and I wasn't intending to go, but I had a bright idea, if he wanted to go there and spend time with his cousins then he would need to go without a binky. I thought it would be a great opportunity because we would be away from home for a week, with tons of distractions and I would be there with him if he couldn't sleep and could help him.
So the decision was made, Corey was proud of me for taking on the challenge since he would stay in Salt Lake to work. I must admit I was SCARED. That dumb plastic thing a.k.a binky has been such a wonderful thing for us. He has always taken such comfort in it. Sleeping 12 hours a night, and three hour naps in the day...Never fighting us on going to bed...any time he was hurt he would calm down immediately with his blanket and binky.
So Corey and I spoke to Conner about it before we went and he was naturally all gung-ho for it, but the first night was HARD. He had never slept a single night without it since he was born.
He was up until about 1:30 a.m. and finally fell asleep...I was so proud, but of course he then woke up at 6:00 a.m.
I was so exhausted, but so happy to have not given in. I cheered and told him how proud I was of him.
The rest of the week was the same, but worse because he was so tired. Every night he begged and pleaded for his binky. The third night he even came over to me and handed me his Buzz and asked if I had "a receipt" because he wanted to return it to the store for his binky. I felt so bad, but we had made it thru this much it would be awful to not stick to it.
He continued to wake up at 6:00 a.m. and go to sleep very, very late.
Long story short my ever persistent child continued to ask for his binky EVERY SINGLE NIGHT AND DAY for two months. Not even exaggerating.
Life was not fun because I was so accustomed to him taking naps and sleeping till 8:30 each morning.
He has almost entirely quit naps, and has continued to wake early in the morning. So I wish I could say it was the best decision ever, but I don't feel that way. I do however feel good that I don't have to worry about when I will take it away anymore and I don't have to worry about his teeth being pushed out. I have already noticed a big difference in his teeth, they had indeed been pushed out from it and have gone back into place. Today is October 9th and he hasn't asked for it at all for a couple weeks.

I brought this stuffed Buzz light year to give Conner something to sleep with.
(This is also the item which he thought we could return for his binky. )

It was hard for us to be away from Corey all week, but he came up in the evenings for dinner and left around bedtime so we got to spend some time with him.

My mom came up one night to hang out/help me out :)

And finally a well deserved reward. Very deserved. We are so proud of our Conner. He did something HARD. There is nothing he valued more than his binky and he was strong enough to give it up. We were delighted to reward him with his first ever BIKE. (With matching Helmet of course.) We wanted him to SEE us paying for it so he knew that nothing great is just handed to us, it comes from much hard work and sacrifice.


We Finally Said GOODBYE!