Bye bye bottle.

Over the past month and half I had been slowly weaning Calvin off the bottle. I started with getting rid of his lunch time bottle and then moving to dinner. That lasted a good 3 weeks. I wanted to wait till after his trip home (more on the trip soon)for his 1st birthday to get rid of the morning one and the evening one. I was hoping by this time he would be pretty used to the sippy cups and the transistion wouldnt be so painful. I didnt want Calvin to be that kid. The kid whos mouth was still plastered to the bottle, the kid whos old enough to speak (or grunt, point, whine...)and/or GO TO COLLEGE. You see those kids. The ones who are 2 or 3 and throw fits if they dont get their bottle. You also know that you secretly judge too.

You: "Wow, Allison really likes her bottles huh?" (All while thinking Really? Shouldnt a 3yr old be helping with dishes and not wanting to tell you she needs to be on level 7 flow nipples?)

Allisons Mom: "Yeah, well, shes just REALLY attached and we cant bare to see her cry for it"

You:"Yeah I know, I heard it can be difficult for some children to wean. I mean my 3 yr old son still likes sponge bob!" Chuckle Chuckle

Allisons Mom; "We keep saying we need to do it this weekend but then we get busy and its just easier to give her a bottle"

You:"Yeah we just did it over a period of time. It was difficult at first but after a bit he got the hang of it and right after he was one he was all done (a small twinge of smugness.) We didnt want him to have his own apartment BEFORE he gave up the bottle."

Allisons Mom:"Yeah, she will tell us when shes ready..."

You: (Thinking now Allisons mom still probably nurses her 13yr old son too) "Yeah, eventually she will be right there with the rest of her peers...."(OR she can just trade up the formula shes probably still on for beer once she hits college!)

Allisons Mom:"Well shes really advanced in picture books, the doctor thinks she could be a educator!(Drinks more wine)

You: (Drinks more wine)"Yup, its good to tell her she can be whatever she wants to be when she gets older!" (All while thinking, as long as she wants to live in her childhood bedroom till shes 35....)

Both: SMILE, show all clenched teeth and SMILE

So with all that being said, we have successfully weaned the kid off the bottle. Ok, not SUCCESSFULLY yet. He still stands at the dishwasher all while whining "Bo..BO!" and giving me this sad little "why do you hate me" look that makes me want to dig up the bottles and throw them on the floor and say "Here you go kid, roll around in them, kiss them, dance around them for all I care". But I care more about how my parenting looks to the other Judges (moms) then if Calvin is mentally distraught. Thats a lie. I care about his development, his teeth and his independence. Even if that means hes no longer a baby. Even if that means I cried as I put the bottles in a box.

Tomorrow a lady is coming to pick them up to give to her cousin. I put a add on Craigslist for someone to come and get them. This is it kiddo, you can no longer plead your case, they will be long gone.

That is until his college years. Then he will see A LOT of bottles. A lot of awful smelling couches too, Im sure.