295. cold turkey

We finally did it.  We cut off the bottle.  It is a habit MM and I have known needs to be broken, but couldn't find the right time. 
If I am being completely honest, I don't think either of us really wanted to stop Baby J from drinking from a bottle.  It's one of the last "baby" things he does and in our sentimental parental sappiness we weren't ready to let go of it.
Also because J would drink the bottle dry in a couple minutes (as opposed to sipping, chewing and playing with it over extended periods), the pediatrician said it was nothing to stress about.  Baby J's bottle was his comfort item and it wasn't causing any harm, reaffirming our delay.
   
For the last year all drinks, excluding milk, have been served in a sippy cup. [Said drinks are only water, because we are cruel parents who do not let our toddler have any happiness!] 
For the last few months he has taken milk out of the sippy cup at least once a day, if not more often.  But any noy (J's made up word for milk) near a bedtime (going down or getting up) had to be served in a bottle or else... meltdown! 

Yesterday I convinced J to skip his morning noy and go straight to eating breakfast before church.  On the drive there, he was given noy in a cup.  After church we had lunch and more noy in a cup.  He went down surprisingly easy for his nap without the bottle and while he snoozed we cleaned out the cabinet, hiding all bottle evidence.  When he awoke, we gave him noy in a cup.  And that was his breaking point.  He had put up with our milk-in-a-cup non-sense all day! 
Really upset and crying for the bottle, it was hard (for both Daddy and I) to hold firm.  We let him get his frustrations out for a few minutes and then sat him down to explain that all the bottles had went bye-bye and there was nothing we could do about it.  I showed him the empty cabinet and tried to help him understand.  The next several minutes were spent walking around the kitchen saying "bye bye noy" and "bye bye bottle" in the sweetest, smallest, sad voice.  Then he climbed onto the couch, snuggled into Daddy and drank out of the cup. 

We successfully made it through night one of bedtime routine without bottle. 
The non-bottle future is looking bright.