Big Girl(s)

Sunday E went through a bit of shell shock. She woke up and did what she'd done for the last nine days, she asked for "Ah-ee, Shar" but for the first time in nine days I had to tell her they were gone.  She spent the better part of the day asking for them and "Uh-Sha" and trying to find them in their usual places.

Our family friends stayed with us for 10 days to see some graduations and E loved having the built in playmates.  The 'big girls' are 8 and 6 and have a 2 year old sister so they were phenomenal with E.  E loved copying them and being a 'big girl' like them.  We went out to dinner one night and the girls were telling knock-knock jokes.  E spent the better part of dinner shouting "nah-nah!" to anyone who would look at her.  Unfortunately that's where her knock-knock expertise ends and no matter how hard the girls tried she wouldn't say any more of the joke.

E became very attached to A and C during their stay.  She watched them like a hawk and followed them around like a puppy.  Another point that sticks out was sitting in E's room with all three girls sitting and reading their own books.  E picked up one of her picture books and sat with it the whole time that the big girls were reading.  She also had a hard time understanding when they were roughhousing.  She got very upset when the big girls were shrieking or play fight tickling.  She'd start crying and trying to stop the person tickling the girl.  Or if the big girls were crying E wanted to go to them and comfort them.  It was very cute to watch.

Her obsession with the big girls also allowed us to start on another big step for E...weaning off the binky.  Sunday after she got up all of her binkies "broke".  I cut a slit in the end of each binky so that she doesn't get good suction on them anymore.  We explained to her that she was becoming a big girl, and big girls don't use binkies, so her binkies all broke.  We talked about how A and C were big girls and they didn't use binkies.  E was so mad at nap time that it took over an hour and three visits from mommy and daddy, with mommy eventually laying down with her to get her to go to sleep.  Riding in the car she was getting so mad at her binky that she she was trying to throw it away from her, but it's attached to the car seat, so she just got more frustrated and mad.  Bed time was rough too, once she was asleep she'd wake up every so often and whine.  At one point I went in and she whined and cried so much with such a pained expression on her face that it just broke my heart.  If there had been a non snipped binky in the house I probably would have caved in and given it to her.  Thankfully there wasn't and eventually despite tears from both mommy and E, angry cries and screams of frustration from E, and a lot of rocking and singing E went to sleep and did about the same as a normal night.  It's so hard to remember that she's becoming a 'big girl'  When she fell alseep at nap time she was curled up close to me, her hands folded and her face looked so much like it used to when she was a tiny baby.  Part of me longs for her to stay my little baby but the other part is dosed in the reality that she is nearly 18 months, has all her baby teeth except her 2 year molars, and needs to go through these transitions, no matter ho much it hurts my heart.

Nap time today was better, it only took 25 minutes of crying and so far bed time has been a breeze.  Hopefully this is a sign that my baby is really becoming a big girl.






Update: