Bye-Bye Bah-Bah!

We finally decided to force the issue with Sophie. We felt that she had been addicted to milk from a bottle (street slang, “Bah-Bah”) for too long. It was taking over her life. First thing in the morning, Bah-Bah. After breakfast, Bah-Bah. In the car, Bah-Bah. Before nap time, Bah-Bah. And so on…

We sat her down and had an intervention. We told her that we thought that her milk addiction had taken over her life, and that she needed to stop it right away. We offered her alternatives – “How about some raisins? How about water? How about some crackers?” Her response? “How about Bah-Bah?”

So we took the next step. We cut her off cold turkey. Yes, it was tough love, but we felt it was the only way. We decided to do it today for one reason – we both had a good nights sleep the night before and were at our strongest. We were ready to face the onslaught that only a two year old can bring to bear.

It was like a scene out of Trainspotting (or perhaps The Man with the Golden Arm). First there was the demands (“Bah-Bah!!!!!”). Then there was the begging (“Daddy, Please!”). Followed by the negotiating (“No CiciLala, Bah-Bah!”). Finally, my personal favorite, the vomiting. Not much, mind you, but enough to make a nice mess of herself.

After putting up with this for what seemed like several hours (and was actually several minutes), we were able to distract her with multiple episodes of Caillou and Maisy. That, combined with lunch at the India Pavilion was enough to keep thoughts of Bah-Bah out of her mind.

I feel like an “AA” bumper sticker. One day at a time. Every time she starts asking for the Bah-Bah, I have to say, “No Bah-Bah – would you like X?” (Where X is something random that I think will get her mind off of it) If I don’t post tomorrow, you’ll know that I ended up going on my own bender.