Transition to the Sippy Cup....

Another milestone!

I don't know what kind of mom type I fall into, but i'm sure I will have this thing down once we have a second one. I think because of Noah's sudden delivery into the world, i'm a lot more lax about certain things, and then extremely nervous about others! One thing I can honestly say (to all my mother-to-be followers out there) is that nothing will ever prepare you for motherhood, because all children are different. A lot of people will tell you the way they did things, and it may work, but don't be surprised if it doesnt...because that's a great possibility as well! You have to learn YOUR child, and YOUR style as well.

I'm very anal when it comes to things like Noah's schedule, but I honestly had no choice! I did it for 8 weeks, and it just stuck with me! Bad habit or not, it works! I used to make sure to see every nurse that Noah had, called them after 9pm because I knew this was when they were going to take his weight, and called after midnight to see if there were any changes. Then, I knew the shift change happened at 6:30am, so i would call around 6:10 to get the info from the nurse that had him for the whole night, as opposed to the one that just "heard" what happened. My parents will tell you that I still call them up to this day, and ask how he is, if he took a nap, what he ate, and how he has been with them. It's just what I do...and it's ok...because i'd rather be that mom than to be extra lax about everything.

My cousin sent me an article about how to be a good parent. The article stated that you pretty much need to let your child do their own thing, not what YOU want them to do. If they are in the process of walking, don't rush them. If they fall on their bum, don't always be ready to scoop them up in your arms and carress them! They have to learn through experience. Same thing goes for when they are applying for college...don't write the letters for them, rather, edit it and help them out AFTER they have put their ideas down on paper. I thought it was a great read. Parenting is a balancing act between keeping your marriage alive, maintaining your health and self image, taking care of a child, church, work, and finding time for a social life. But you will grow as they grow! That's the good news!

Now...what was this post supposed to be about?! Oh yea....the sippy cup! LOL! I have been introducing it to Noah for him to drink water in for a few months now, but still let him have all of his milk from the bottle. It's faster, easier, and it works. Well, he is going to be going to daycare in January God willing, and I heard through the grape vine that these kids drink out of cups! Really?! Cups?! My child is still drinking from a bottle, and you need for him to drink out of a cup? If you would see how many types of sippy cups we have in Noah's cabinet, you would laugh! We have the fast dripping one, one with two handles, one with a soft tip, one with a hard tip, one old school one that will probably break open once he bangs it on the floor, and one with a straw. Did any of them work? Not really. So, on Friday, I went to the store and literally looked at all the sippy cups for 30 minutes while envisioning my son and wondering which one of these he would actually drink from and not just throw to the side. I was stuck between two, but ultimately made the decision to buy this kind (see below).

The thing is that I have to also think about the kind of child Noah is...if I "transition" him to this sippy cup by giving him milk in it once a day, he is just going to throw a tantrum because he knows he can get the bottle...so, I just cut him cold turkey. Call me what you want to, but it works! I had to do the same thing with the pacifier from the hospital when i wanted to "transition" to an orthodontic passy! If i just stop giving it to him, he will have to realize that this is the only way for him to get his milk. So we started Friday night, and he only drank about 4 oz when he regularly drinks 8oz before bed. I left it at that because he had a big enough dinner, and he went to bed. The next morning, after breakfast (about 1hr later), i presented the sippy, which he immediately pushed away...until he wanted the milk. Again, he drank about 5oz, and let it be. I was nervous because we were headed out that night to a friend's house and I wasn't sure how he was going to handle it...but i brought the sippy cup along, and when he was hungry, he drank out of it! Sunday morning, I handed it to him on our way to church, and he smacked it out of his way, so I just put it beside him. 5 minutes later, I hear the kind in the back seat sucking away at the sippy (mwen ta fout li kek tap! LOL). So there you go! It's been like that ever since! Tonight, I gave him the sippy, and he drank the whole thing! It's his new bottle! LOL. SN: i tried giving him a cup with less than 1oz of water in it...epic fail! It ended up all over the floor.

So anyway, we not have a fully certified sippy cup drinker. By the end of November, we will be trying out the cup...oh my! After all, we only have 89 days left before he starts daycare! *Sigh*

Until next time!