Let's talk about THE cup...

THE CUP. Those 2 words RULED our life last week, and I am not exaggerating. After Simms' doctor told us last Monday that is must be done now, we knew there could be no looking back. We had to do it, no matter how bad it was going to be. I let her have one bottle Monday evening, as we would normally do, and then that was it. I started offering her one of the MANY cups we have stored away, and of course she knew what was happening as soon as she saw it. And she immediately showed GREAT disdain for it. Each and every time she saw a cup, no matter if I had changed the kind I was offering or not, a FIT would ensue. These were BAD fits.

I had read that it would happen. That children who develop an attatchment to things, be it a blankie, bottle, paci, etc... do not take it well when these things are taken away. I felt bad for her. I really did. But I also knew every other 18 month old around is on a cup, and has been for a while. So we stuck with it. The days were long, and the nights were too. But the days were probably longer since I was doing it without Dru. The fits got worse every time she saw a cup, and nap time was awful.

I got more and more frustrated, because I couldn't understand it. What she wanted was IN the cup. Why wouldn't she drink it? I prayed A LOT. I had to remind myself that the cup wasn't her bottle, which is what she found comfort it. I also had to remind myself we'd taken the paci away the weekend before, so that was a lot to deal with. We finally decided we had to choose one cup and stick with it, so the NUBY, which is just like a bottle in my opinion, is what we chose.

We kept giving it to her and by Thursday she'd at least carry it around. Progress. Friday night as we were leaving dinner I told Dru a story I'd read online (imagine that) about a little boy that finally just gave in and started chugging from his cup. As soon as I told him that he said, "Don't look at her, but she's drinking from it." I of course thought he was making fun of my story, but she WAS! I just knew she understood it! But she still threw a fit that night when she saw a cup.

Saturday she went all day just like the days before with NOTHING to drink except water from water bottles, then Saturday night she went and picked up her cup, chugged, drank it all, had another cup and chugged it all, and now here we are. JUST LIKE THAT. She's done it! Mastered the cup at 18 months and I couldn't be more proud. It was a hard week, and I think with our next child we'll go straight from nursing to the cup! I know this whole story may sound crazy to some but it really was this big of a deal for her (and us) and it's over!

Here is a picture of Simms' silhouette that I had done for my mother's day gift. Silhouette artist Clay Rice, who is a 3rd generation silhouette artist and one of the best in the silhouette world, did it. He was incredible. He had Simms done in 10 seconds. I was amazed because Simms has never looked at all like me or my side of the family. As soon as I looked at her silhouette I immediately thought it looked like my profile, my Aunt Nancy's profile and my cousin Hillary's profile. That is talent. Here is also a picture of the children's book that he wrote. He put a silhouette of Simms in the back of the book too! Now I have to find a place to hang it!