B-I-N-K-E-Y I-S G-O-N-E!!!!!!

My little Shy Shy girl is officially off of the binkey!!! Ladies and gentleman....WE THOUGHT WE WOULD NEVER GET HERE!! With all of our children we gently took their binkey at a year old. We slowly weaned so that they only wanted it at naps and bedtimes, then said bye bye. The only one who really had a hard time with it was Mia. Bedtimes were a challenge and we did a lot of rocking for several nights and got through it fairly unscathed. And then there was Shiloh! I did not have the heart to take her binkey at a year old. We had been through too much with her weight gain or lack there of. We had gotten to a beloved smooth point and I liked it. She was thriving, content and I did not want to shake things up again. So, I let her keep it. "Just a little longer" I kept telling myself. Here we are in October....three months after her 2nd birthday! It needed to go. Now I am the last one to knock anyone's parenting methods (for the most part). There are plenty of parents who allow the pacifier longer years than we prefer. It's all good! My haste was related to the fact that shy has a significant overbite. It may or may not be associated with her pacifier, but it certainly was not helping her dentally. We had tried everything. We poked holes in her binkey. It did not matter. We made those holes bigger. She would throw it down and wail. We gave in every time. We do not believe in CRY IT OUT! We had gone several days and nights without it after Jude was born. One thing led to another and she had it back. I think she had them hidden away for just a time as this. She knew this was coming...the little stinker. She would just appear, binkey in mouth. She began stealing Jude's binkeys! Then one night, during the big kids' lamp time, she fell asleep with the girls as they read aloud to her. Then it happened again and again. We decided to roll with it. She would sleep with the boys a couple nights, then with the girls, until one day we realized she had not had the binkey in a couple weeks!!! She spied Jude's once again a few days ago. She said "Jude's binkey?" (my heart lept) I said "Yes, Jude's binkey. Do you want a binkey?" She said "No." My Shy girl is growing up!

 So long, baby girl! Hello, big girl!