Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Nuk Free Is The Way To Be!

Last night the dreaded, unthinkable happened!
Greta finally chewed through her last Nuk and had to give it up completely!!!

If you don't know Greta... here is the little back story on this.
G loves her Nuk! And when I say loves, I mean... has to have it almost all the time, freaks out, would die with out it, kind of love.

We have cut her back to nap time, bed time, and in the car... so Mommy doesn't drive off the road due to her screaming, and she has done pretty good with that. We know her brother has one and so we have just contemplated taking both of them away at the same time. But for now, we have told her he is still little and she is not.

When it comes to the Nuk, Greta also has this tendency to chew on it. I don't know if it's a bad habit like chewing on your nails or what?! But after she chews through them she just finds another! - Well as of late... we were down to THEE last one!

We had a talk with Greta and told her that when she chewed through that Nuk... that was it! It was the last Nuk and we were not buying another one. So this was it!!!

Fast forward to last night:
I was in Tuck's room putting him to bed when a scream rang out from Greta's room. This scream was followed my Daddy's low, sad, voice saying... "Mommy. You better come in here."

I walked in the room to find a teary eyed Greta laying on her bed. When I asked what was wrong, like a dramatic 16 year old, she just held up her chewed Nuk and laid back down.
Daddy had told her she could not go to bed with that Nuk for fear of her choking on it.

And so, that was it!
The era of the Nuk was gone in the blink of an eye...
and I was left probably as nervous and scared as Greta, wondering...
"What do we do now?!"
But, I am the parent and I know that my mood changes and affects the whole tone of our home. So with that...
"Giving Up The Nuk 101" began!

We have always talked about mailing her last Nuk to another baby who really needs a Nuk.
It is a Super Nanny trick where you decorate the envelope, have the child put the Nuk in there, then put it in the mail box to send it off. Later, you receive a toy or present for so selflessly giving your Nuk to a baby in need!

Here is a picture recap of thee most MONUMENTAL MOMENT in Greta's life to date...


Here she is, decorating her envelope.
As for then, she was all smiles and ready to become "a big girl!"
Here's her envelope all done and ready.
(yeah, when in a scramble all I could find were sponge bog stickers! - Boo.)As you can see, she decided to mail her Nuk to her cousin Paisley, just in case she lost hers some day. - too sweet! :)
Oh my gosh... there it goes.
The last time we will ever see this thing.
Ready but a smidge nervous to actually go bring it out to the mail box.
This picture almost made me cry for her.
One last look at the thing that has comforted her most since she was a baby.
Then they were off... headed out into the cold and the snow, just to mail that Nuk to Paisley.
And that was it!
Inside and ready to try going to bed with out it!

For the record:
Greta did a pretty good job falling asleep last night. But she did wake up at 3:00 am calling and crying for her Daddy. She was pretty upset that she didn't have her Nuk anymore and said she couldn't sleep with out it. So, like the good Daddy he is, Daddy crawled into bed with her to sooth her and calm her down. - he ended up falling asleep and staying with her for the night.

But, like we promised, Greta received exactly what she asked for for giving up her Nuk....

... a two and a half foot tall Buzz Lightyear pillow. Which she is completely in love with!
All in all, the whole experience wasn't as traumatic as I thought it might have been... so that is a good thing!
And if you don't mind, I'd like to leave a little note to my Greta J,

Greta girl,Mommy and Daddy could not be more PROUD of you for finally doing this!
We know that giving up things you love are never easy. We are just so thankful that you listened to us and you were able to overcome this fear and finally let go of the Nuk. You are growing up so fast my sweet girl. I will always cherish the memories I have of rocking you to sleep with that Nuk wedged tightly in your lips. You would always suck and suck on it just to sooth your colicky tummy.

We love you, we're proud of you, and we think you are definitely growing up into a wonderful little girl.

Chat later,

Mommy

P.S. - we are headed off to the great state of Missouri soon so you may not see me till next week! So have a great weekend! - and yes, feel free to wish us and Greta both a little luck on this 9 hour
"Nuk-less" drive!

P.P.S - if you want more great Greta moments...
just check out this post,this post, this post, or this post!

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