Bitter Sweet Goodbye

Well, today was the dreaded day! My sister and her family were here for a visit over the weekend. We were all looking forward to it. I thought it would be a perfect time to ask Landon if he would like to "give" his ya-yas to his little cousin who is a little over a year younger than him. He was very excited to give them to his cousin because he is a "big boy now". Well, they left this morning along with Landon's ya-yas (well, they didn't physically go with them). You have got to understand that for the first two years of his life, these things barely left his mouth. We didn't think he could talk until we started limiting his time with them. He is quite attached and I was ready for the worst. He didn't ask about them until a little before lunch. He was getting tired and hungry and so I made him his lunch...not a big deal. Then nap time came. He was fine until he got in his bed and asked for them. I told him they were gone and reminded him of what he said that he was going to do with them. Which, I am now hoping this doesn't create a rivalry or bad feelings toward my precious little nephew. Poor kid, Landon thinks he has his ya-yas but they are really tucked away in his memory box. Anyway, he cried this heartbroken cry for about 5 minutes. All I could do was hold him (and get a little teary myself). I had to keep telling myself to stay strong and not give in and go and get one for him...in this case, just one would hurt him...it would be a major set back because he would know that they were still in the house. I hated the things but it's a bitter sweet milestone...no more pacifiers in my house....when the bottles go, I think that I might actually cry. :-) So, that was about it. I explained to him that he was a big boy now and I was so proud of him for giving up his ya-yas. He put his head down and went to nap. I think my precious little big boy needs some strawberry whoppers when he wakes up.