Freedom

Well, I must say that I am pretty proud of Natalie. She has been using a binky for close to 3 years now. She started, I think around 6 months old and used it throughout the day until she was a little older than 2. We used to call it her "friend" until a funny little thing happened at the store. Natalie needed a new binky, so Mom and her went to go get one. Amy let Natalie hold the binkies in the package as she rode up to the checkout in her cart. Then Amy said, "Ok Natalie, we have to pay for your friends". Just as she said it, she realized what that sounded like.

Anyway, after a while we decided that since Natalie could walk and talk, she didn't need to have the binky during the day. We came up with the Night-night binky. That worked great. She only used the binky at night. Lately though, she would want to take naps all day just to be able to use her binky. She wouldn't nap, just go in her room and put in her binky. Well, a couple weeks ago, Natalie got sick. She got her binky all dirty, so we decided to go cold turkey and end the binky usage. She seem to break the habit pretty fast. She doesn't even ask for it any more.

Now, since there is nothing blocking her voice at night. She likes to talk in her sleep; sort of. She wakes up, says a few things, and then goes back to sleep. Below is a list of her wakeup announcements. Now remember, she sits up, shouts out the phrase, and then goes back to sleep.

1. I want pancakes!
2. I'm twisted!
3. There's a cricket in my blanket! (I turned on the lights, stripped the bed, no cricket)
4. There's a lobster in the water!