Monday, November 7, 2011

Dumbo is no Dummy.

Sure this may look like a cute little harmless elephant below, but I am telling you 
she will control your life after 5 minutes.
Yes. I'm talking about Miss Gigi.
Sweet little Miss Gigi, who at this precise moment of 9:55pm is at the top of the stairs screaming "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
OOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
She is also folding magnets in a washcloth while she does it too.
Not a one of us have slept very well for the past couple of weeks.
 It all started the Monday we got home...the 17th.
Gigi was refusing to eat anything. All she wanted was her "bobble" full of milk.
Hold on..................
Okay, I'm back. She just snuck down to the coat closet and was playing with the zipper on Lulu's backpack.
Good grief this child!
Anyways, she was refusing to eat, so I decided it was probably high time we took the bobble away
I mean she does turn 2 next month after all and.....get ready to judge me....
she falls asleep with it every night.
GASP.
You heard me right. It's true. 
I discovered how peacefully, wonderfully, beautifully, she went to sleep (and stayed asleep) while drinking her bottle several months ago and I couldn't quit.
It was like a bad habit that quickly turned into an addiction. for all of us.
Well anyways, obviously it was beyond time to take it away, so that Monday I did.
I was clueless as far as how to do this, so I winged it.
She started asking for her 3rd bottle of the day (10 am).
I said "No, no, honey" in my calmest sweetest most motherly voice.
She SCRAME.
I stared blankly.
What the crap do I do? Google it? Of course!
Oh there's nothing wrong with bottles, let your kids be kids.
do it cold turkey.
do it gradually, only giving your child one for bed.
put only water in the bottle.
switch to a sippy cup.
cut off the nipples.
Freak. I had to make a decision.
Gigi was over on the tile lying on the ground, yet running in a circle and screaming for her comfort.
I tried the water. Horrible decision.
louder, stronger, harder.
I ran down to Sonny for moral support (he shrugged his shoulders and said her teeth look fine. awesome.), called my SIL (she told me to just give her the bottle...haha!).
I decided to hold to my guns and walked upstairs and cut the nipples off without Gigi noticing.
Then I filled one up with milk and handed it to her.
She drank it, smiled, said "thank mama"and walked off, dumping milk everywhere.
What the....
Google didn't say anything about kiddos liking it!!
I grabbed the bottle and said "Gigi, Bobble broken. It don't work."
G: (pause) "Bobble break?"
M: "yes. bobble break. needs to go in the garbage."
G: (longer pause, looking outside, notices bird)"Birdies break?"
M: ??"Yes, Birdies break."
Then she walked over and threw her bottle in the garbage like it wasn't no thang.
The rest of the day, she told everyone and anyone that "birdies break bobble."
Suweeeeet. 
I thought we were scott free and gave myself good mommy pats on the back for the rest of the day. 
(hey, I needed them after reading about bottle mouth for 20 minutes)
That night was a different story though.
Gigi dove head first out of her crib.
She had started climbing out of her crib 2 months before, but we had jerry rigged her crib, so that she couldn't even see over the rails....making it impossible to climb out.
Apparently, when her adrenaline kicks in though, the girl can defy all odds.
She went headfirst out of her crib twice before we took it down and made her a bed on the floor...
thus, bringing me back to tonight....
The girl won't sleep anymore. Sonny has now gone up there twice to put her back in bed.
I'm sure there will be about 20 more times before we get to crawl in bed too....
leaving me to wonder....
Is bottle mouth really that awful?????



Gosh. She sure does make a cute dumbo though.
None of us can ever get mad at her.
And I can't help but wonder if she knows exactly the kind of power she has over us all.
Must be those dang eyelashes? Maybe the smile?
I don't know, but she has us all.

Oh, and now she is barking at the cat at the foot of the stairs.
Wow.
Hope you all get a good night's sleep tonight.
sigh.

5 comments:

~Cmac~ said...

BAHAHAHAHA! We have got to get Gigi & Soph together. They are exactly the same. Good luck - You'll need it! Take it from someone who knows. You can call me crying anytime. :)
My advice:
Put a child proof door knob on her door so she can't get out. Then, invest in some very thick down pillows. Insert head in between two pillows. Go to sleep. Wake up when she turns three.

Terry said...

She makes a cute EVERYTHING. I know that's easy for me to say looking at those darling pict. and not having to deal with bottle issues. I'm soooo sorry, but it will pass believe me.

courtney and andrew said...

So I just took away my youngest son's binkies- today in fact. We have made it to the night yet and I am not looking forward to it. He is 2 1/2 so I figured it was time. I will pray for you. Pray for me! I feel your pain!

Jodi Rae said...

GOOD LUCK. That is the only advice I have. You will know what to do. Follow your gut and don't give in to anyone elses advice but what is best for you and her!

Catherine said...

Oh Kit, how I feel your pain. I also have a 1 year old that goes to sleep and stays asleep perfectly with a bottle that when I take it away, I'm sure there will be mahem at the Reed's! I'm a litte nervous. I agree with Jodi, as a mom, listen to your heart instead of everyone else, and there's usually more peace.

PS) You totally won my GIVEAWAY by the way!!! Did you see yet? Go back to Tuesday's post for Harmony's contact info and then you will have your own personal trainer. Wahoo!