For the past year, Ava has only had her binkies when she is sleeping. You would think that would make it easier for her to let them go. You would be wrong.
Our first thought was to take Ava to Build-A-Bear and have her put together a new stuffed animal with her binkies placed inside of it. We thought that maybe, if she knew that her binkies were right there inside her new little friend, that would be some sort of comfort. We decided against that because Build-A-Bear is not a cheap thing to do...and it quickly became apparent that Ava would rip that poor stuffed bear to SHREDS to get to her pacifier on night number one.
Don't worry little bear. I wouldn't do that to you.
Enter......the BINKY FAIRY.
I decided that it would be best to get those binkies as far from her reach as possible. About a month ago, we started talking to Ava about how the Binky Fairy will come to her house (once she is a big girl), take her binkies away, and leave her a special present. As you saw in my last post, it didn't take but a moment before she informed us that the special present was a pair of skates and a helmet. Uh........okay......
So....we've been talking this up for almost a month now, but Ava has been sick a lot this past month, etc., and I just couldn't bring myself to take it from her when she was sick. Finally, Eric ordered the skates, helmet, elbow and knee pads, and we knew that it was time.
On Saturday, I sat down with Ava, and we wrote our letter to the Binky Fairy. We let her know that Ava was a big girl now, she didn't need her binkies anymore, and she was ready for her to come and get them that night. She also made sure that I put in the request that she receive skates and a helmet for her generous binky offering. Here she is.....super proud of her letter:
Seriously.....is it possible for a toddler to be cuter than that? The correct answer to that question is NO.
That night, Eric and I took her to the mailbox to mail her letter:
We walked around the house, and Ava grabbed all of her pacifiers and put them into a plastic bag. We then hung the bag-o-binkies on the handle of our front door. Okay. No going back now!
We decided to let Ava sleep with us in our bed for that first night. It took her FOREVER to fall asleep, but then she did, and all was right with the world. One bad effect is that she doesn't take a nap during the day at all anymore. Boo on that. I miss those naps already. But, to see her excitement when she got her skates, it made it all worth it.
I have to admit, though, it was kindof funny to see how quickly she was over it. She wanted skates because she wanted to be like "Wonder Red" on her "Super Why" cartoon. Wonder Red has skates, and she zooms all over the place on them like a flash of lightening. I think Ava assumed that she would immediately be doing the same thing. We put all of her gear on, she basically walked in them for two minutes, and you could see that look on her face....that look of, "Uh.....this is nothing like advertised, people." Within minutes, she was "all done". Eric and I just looked at each other and laughed. Nothing like going through all that work for sixty seconds of excitement. Oh well....the binkies are gone. Mission accomplished.
That saddest part was the next night. Ava screamed and cried in her room for an hour. I went in there twice to put her back in her bed. Finally, on the third time, I open the door to her room, and she is standing there...in the middle of her pitch black room.....tears rolling down her face....and her arms full of three items.
She just looked at me and said, "Mommy, I have my baby, my teddy bear, and my pee-yoh (pillow). Can I come to sleep with you now?" SHE WAS JUST STANDING THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF HER DARK ROOM WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO COME GET HER. OH. MY. GOSH.
Of course, Eric and I both melted into a parental puddle and scooped her up and into our bed. We are such suckers.
The last two nights, though, she has been doing very well. She has slept in her own bed, and she is going down without a two hour meltdown. That is always good. I'm so happy about getting over this hump, but I have to admit that I'm kindof sad. She is potty trained now, so her binkies were the last "baby" things that she had since birth. She's getting so big. How is she going to be THREE in just a few weeks? Sniff..... Sorry....mommy moment there.....
Needless to say, I a very proud of my big girl.
So, go ahead and breathe a sigh of relief, sweet Build-A-Bear, you shall live another day....
I know. I know. You're welcome. I love you, too.
love those pics =) that binky fairy she's an awesome gal!
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