Bye-Bye Binky (and Slime)

The b-i-n-k-y is officially gone! Although it wasn't quite how I imagined it happening, Norah is now binky-free and (almost) loving it. It all started a little over a week ago (very beginning of March) when I had taken her and Beckett to Costco for our weekly supply of milk (on a side-note - we go through 3 gallons a week. At least.). Norah began her ritual of throwing and/or dropping her binks in order to watch me then have to pick it up... one of her favorite games, really. At some point (my last straw) she threw the binky and I didn't notice until we had gotten in line to check-out. There was no way I was going to retrace all of my steps and I knew that was the last binky we had (the others had been lost at various locations thanks to this throwing routine of hers) - so I made the decision that we were done. Finito. No more binky! I had originally planned to do the 'cut the tip off' trick or wean her off of it over the course of a week or two, but then she lost this final binky and I was not about to go buy a new pack. So I called Justin and told him to be prepared when he got home from work - it was go time.

That afternoon was awful! She didn't take a nap and instead cried on and off for 'binky'. Once Justin came home she did more of the same. She didn't make it to bed until around eleven pm when she'd finally exhausted herself crying on Justin's shoulder. I'm not going to lie - both of us ended up turning the house upside-down looking for a rogue binky so we could calm her down. We thought we'd just give it to her at night time because the cold turkey approach was heartbreaking. However, no binky was to be found and she finally fell asleep.

Day 2 was almost as bad though she did manage to take her much needed afternoon nap. She asked for binky continually, but I just kept telling her in a really upbeat voice, "It got lost at the store! Binky's gone!"

Day 3 was better and by day 4 or 5 she didn't mention binks at all. RIP, binky.

Our little Binky-Diva. It was actually difficult to find a picture of her with it in her mouth because I almost always took it out for the camera, but she definitely used it much more than her binky-loving brothers did.

Here she is - finally passed out after hours of on/off crying and refusing to take her nap. This is real, folks. Parenting in the trenches.

No more binky day 1: By evening Norah was so upset and irritable that I allowed her to sit on the counter to help me make dinner. This is a BIG 'no-no', but it really worked to calm her down and even *gasp* smile! That is until I turned my back for a second and returned to find her nursing her injured soul with a stick of butter.

This looks like a mug-shot photo of an addict, lol! (Yes, I am completely aware that she will hate me for this picture when she's older.) Food is not love, Norah. Food is not love...

On an unrelated note we've recently made slime as on of our science experiments! It was pretty cool (and easy!)

Eddie made green and Jack made blue (surprised? :). We'll definitely be doing this experiment again.