I had to do it....

I think I earned the mean mom of the year award this evening! :( Well...at-least it felt that way. I finally got the breaking point with Ellie's binky and poked a large hole in the end of them both (there are only two remaining from the stash we once had). And let me just tell you how awful I felt when, after popping it into her mouth while I changed her into her jammies for bed, she took it out, stared at it with great confusion, and popped it back into her mouth again, only to repeat the process about 10 more times. :( It was so sad to see that look on her face, and yet kinda funny at the same time. I just felt so mean!

She has grown increasingly attached to the darn thing in the past month. Instead of working towards getting rid of it (Luke's was gone by 18 months, by the way!) she has managed to have it in her mouth every possible moment lately. And I know most of that is my own fault! She seems to go through spells (more like WEEKS it seems) of crying for no apparent reason (which Amy helped me determine was most likely an attention-getting scheme while she was here visiting last week) and to be quite honest, it is driving me crazy, looney and otherwise insane! And the only thing that usually quiets her? You guessed it...the binky! So, cutting my loses, I give in to the bink-fest and allow her to have it outside of her crib (which has been the rule for awhile now.) I guess until tonight, I have been afraid of the alternative...the great potential for un-ending crying....the possibility of sleep deprivation and the high likelihood that I might loose my mind! LOL!

But push came to shove this evening when she refused to eat her dinner without having the binky in her hand (for the second night in a row, mind you!) and I could take it no longer. The plug got poked! And what, you might ask, happened after that???? My darling, sweet, intelligent little girl was found fast asleep in her crib, with a binky in one hand, another in her mouth, and the index finger of her other hand conveniently pushed through the end of her Soothie pacifier, plugging up the hole! Great! On to plan B...