Binky-Free with a ‘Big Boy’ Train

As of Mid-October, we are pleased to announce that Alexander is now a “Binky-Free” boy! We’d been thinking and praying about how to go about it for a couple of weeks, and felt that between his increasingly stubborn demands for it outside of cribtime and the funny shape it’s been giving his mouth that it was time for it to go. We talked about it with Alexander for a few days, ‘On Sunday, we’re going to put the binkies in the trash.’ And he was getting used to the idea and even talking about it to us. On Sunday before snack-time we scavenged the house for binkies and Alex put them in a very special heart shaped box, and he dumped the box in the garage dumpster. We also trekked to Nana’s to get her binkies. It took about two nights of adjustment to learn how to re-settle himself (especially if he woke up during the night), and a bit longer for naps. But he’s back to his normal routine and if he ever asks about his binky, he’ll tell you himself they’re in the “Tash.” He still checks his diaper bag pocket each Sabbath in case one has magically grown back, but he’s been a great sport. We tell him that he’s becoming such a big boy.

The day we got rid of the binkies, we went to Toys R Us for some fun playtime, and he was having a lot of fun with the train table. In the past he’s been more interested in rearranging the track, but this time he was quite intent on running the trains around, so he got his first “Big Boy” Train- (yes, a Thomas the train- we gave in, sigh…) He’s carried it around for quite a while. He was so excited about trains, we even did a week of ‘lessons’ about them and went to the train station to watch a real train come and go while he clutched Thomas and giggled excitedly. “Choo choo!” said Alex as the train light came down the track. He flapped his little arms as it rushed by quite loudly and “chhhhhh” as it stopped. The “do” opened and the steps came “don don don” followed by baggage and all the people coming “ut” of the train. There were lots of hugs and kisses as everyone greeted their friends. We watched the ‘Conductors’ as we called them (they were really the hosts/hostesses) help new people all aboard, and the train made another “choochoo!” before it left the station. It was quite the adventure for a little boy- er .. a big boy, that he chatted about for quite some time. Oh, Alexander- the adventures are only beginning!