Big Girl Bed and Bye Bye Binky

Out with the old....

And in with the new!

Passing the binky to baby sister :)

We've been prepping Chloe for her big girl bed for a couple of months now by telling her that when she gets a big girl bed, we're going to throw binky in the garbage.  She would get super excited and yell "Binky in da garbage!!!" and do a little dance, so I'm not sure that it ever really sank in.  At the beginning of this month the big girl bed finally came and we were pleasantly surprised when she caught right on!  After she helped Ronnie set it up, we started taking down her pack n' play and she started to get a little upset.  We explained to her that baby sister needed it now and that she had the big girl bed and asked if it would be okay if baby sister had it.  Her face lit up as she said "baby sister have it!"  Then we told her it was time to throw binky in the garbage and I guess it sank in this time, because she was not happy about it.  We tried to explain to her that big girls don't have binkies, but it wasn't doing the trick.  Finally we told her baby sister needed it and that changed her whole attitude.  She grabbed her binky and tried to plug it into my belly and that was the end of it!  We laid her down, read a book, sang songs and prayed, then as I turned to leave, she softly asked "Mom....teddy bear?"  She doesn't normally sleep with one, but I guess she needed a little extra comfort :)  We turned out the light, shut the door, and that was it!  Not a peep!  I kept telling myself that it was too easy, but she went right to sleep!  Later that night (or maybe it was early the next morning)  she started crying hysterically (I think she was just disoriented) so Ronnie went in and calmed her down and she went back to sleep.  A few minutes later, she started crying again and when Ronnie went back in she told him that she needed a new bandaid for her owie on her finger.  He told her she was okay and she seemed to go back to sleep.  A few minutes after that she came running into our room saying she needed a new bandaid, going back and forth from my side to Ronnie's, trying to convince both of us that she NEEDED a new bandaid.  Finally we got her back to her bed and she stayed the rest of the night.  Since then she's been great!  She wakes up crying every now and then, but calms back down quickly and rarely gets out of bed during the night.  She only asked for binky a few times and let it go quickly  after we reminded her that she gave it to baby sister.  I keep thinking that she'll figure out she can get out of bed and play with her toys or turn the light on, but so far she hasn't even tried!  I am always in awe of Chloe and how much she comprehends and usually obeys.  It's already very apparent in her personality that she likes rules and that she likes other people to follow the rules too.  She's always the one telling the other kids to share their toys or to put their shoes back on (even if she doesn't do those things all the time).  Good job big girl!

PS  The last picture is of Chloe in her first Mummy Tuck!  I thought that all kids got Mummy Tucks from their Dads and that that was their proper name, but Ronnie told me that he'd never heard the term, even though his parents tucked him in.  I love it when you think something is common, only to find out that it was just your family that did it :)  Thanks for the Mummy Tucks Dad!  Love you!