ADIOS, AU REVOIR, SAYONARA

i haven't spoken out about the tragedy in CT. i don't have the words to express my heavy heart and sorrow. all i have is prayers. for the children. for the parents and families affected. for all the parents and families in the world. all i know to do is pray and then hug my little one a little tighter.

 

she did it! she kicked the bobo to the curb. it's incredibly bittersweet. for almost 3 years, my girl loved her bobo. it was HER source of comfort. 

a few days ago, on a whim, i decided that that was the day we ended the bobo reign. she'll be three in a few weeks, it's time. not to mention, i was getting a bit worried about her teeth. 

i dragged out this speech of how she's becoming a big girl and we need to give all of her bobo's away to other babies that need them. then she told me that other babies already had their bobo's and she needed to keep hers. oy. i rethought my strategy and agreed to keep the bobos IF she learned to sleep without them. and IF she could sleep the whole night, then we'd have lots of fun things planned the next day.

that first night was hell. she screamed and cried and screamed some more. after giving in for a few minutes, letting her in our bed and then putting her back to bed - she slept most of the night. she also came down with a cold that day so we both felt cruddy and it didn't help matters at all. nap time the next day was hell too.

but we pushed through and we didn't give in. i think i can officially say we are done with the bobo. she's been sleeping through the night in her bed and taking naps. it's a little harder to get her down for bed. it's taking more stories being read, a few extra cuddles and some "mama, watch me" time until she falls asleep, but is that really anything to complain about? 

and today, when we were on our way up for nap time, my girl looked up at me and said "mommy, i want to slweep wid out a bobo".

you got it, kid. and i cry, where did the time go?

what amazes me most is that i simply told my little girl that she couldn't have her bobos anymore. because it's what me and her papi decided was best. and she trusted me. she stopped using something that was such a big part of her life because she trusted me. she believed me when i told her i loved her and i had faith in her and i knew she could do it. she listens to me when i tell her every time she wakes up that i am SO proud of her.

i'm not a perfect parent. i let my kid watch too much TV. and she still uses diapers because I am not ready for that battle. she eats candy sometimes. and yells at me. i lose my patience and sometimes we don't do nearly enough fun, creative things in a day. but i am teaching her love. and that's pretty darn good, i'd say.

but seriously, potty training is up next. and if you've got good advice, i wanna hear it!