Monkey has had a binky since, oh, forever! Look how huge it was in front of his tiny face...

But now that he's much bigger...

... We know that we have to wean him off the binky. At his 12-month checkup, our pediatrician said he usually wanted kids off the binky between 12 and 15 months. And since Monkey is 13 months already... Let's just say there's a reason why I phrased it "off the binky," like "off the hard drugs." Because that's seriously what he's like with the thing! Do you see that adorable boy and his two binkies? If he's tired/cranky.... Let's just say I wouldn't be surprised to see his head turn around completely on his shoulders.

Anyway, so our pediatrician suggested cutting the tip off the binky, and then gradually cut and cut until there's nothing left. We started this technique last week, and cut one binky at home and one binky at Sarah's.

We've already gotten to the point where he only gets the binky in church or in the crib, and if he finds one on the floor (or under the couch, or in the toy box, or wedged in his diaper...) we take it away as soon as we notice, and life isn't too tragic. When he first gets a cut binky at naptime or bedtime, he gives us funny looks, but usually will go to sleep in about he same amount of time. But there's the 20% of the time when he just refuses the cut binky. Tonight was one of those nights... It has been a hard day (read: not nearly as much napping as should have happened) and when we put him down, he screamed for about 45 minutes... We usually let him cry it out, but tonight it just wasn't happening... Yeesh, child. So, maybe I did a bad mommy thing, and maybe I went down and gave him an uncut binky... And then maybe he was asleep less than 10 minutes later. So, you know, maybe it was worth it. Mamma won't let him be a preschooler with a binky, but some nights he just needs a little extra comfort.