bye bye binky

today was a big day for ryan. she is leaving behind yet another piece of her baby-hood and jumping full throttle into big girl world. today she gave up her beloved binkies. after many discussions with friends last night i woke up and felt today was the day. (i was teetering when a little inspiration from our pal gretchen pushed me over the edge! way to go gretch!!) 

ryan and her binky have had a wonderful relationship since day one. i introduced the two early on (much to the dismay of my lactation nurse) and they were instantly hooked. over the last year or so i noticed that they had been starting to grow apart. ryan had new friends and new interests and only seemed to turn to her old trusty at nap & bedtime. however, there would be no napping or sleeping without her beloveds. (at least two...she would interchange the two at least 10 times before falling asleep.) those binkies got her through a lot over the last 3 years. plane rides, boo-boos, stomach bugs, even a trip to the er...those binks were always there to comfort her. 

now i have heard of many different approaches to taking away the binkies. so many cute ideas & suggestions have been thrown my way, but one in particular stood out. my friend mary told me about how her friend took the binkies to build-a-bear and had them stuffed inside a new friend. i thought this was just the ticket for us. since ryan still loves her binks this seemed like a good way for her to still have them, but not have them at the same time. she even came up with the idea to give the new friend to the baby once he/she arrives. (we'll see if that actually happens...but precious none-the-less)

so today that is just what we did. the entire fam headed to b-a-b and she kissed her beloveds good-bye one last time. (pardon the iphone pics. my camera has been m.i.a all weekend.)

and the winner is...a white, sparkly kitty cat

giving kitty a bath