All bottled up!

I feel so lost and overwhelmed today......as I did yesterday, too.  Olivia had her 18-month-old check up yesterday morning, and her pediatrician (he is a neuro-developmental pediatrician, by the way, and I like him very much) spent a very long time talking to me about a few topics.  One of the biggies....FOOD.  Or shall I say, MILK/BOTTLE.  The bottle era is over.  She has been on a sippy cup for water for a very long time, but has staunchly dug in her heels when it comes to drinking milk out of her cup.  She had to know that would mean the end of milk in her bottle.  She would have been right.  After trying lots of methods over these many months to coax into the switch, I have conceded that cold turkey is the way to go--PAINFUL for everyone involved (and even passersby!) tho it will be.  Today marks DAY ONE of no more bottle ever again, and she is hating the guts out of today.  She angrily launches her sippy cup as far as she can anytime I hand it to her, clearly sending me a message.  This is so hard to do, but so necessary.  I do think she can handle it.  It just isn't going to be fun.

The doc talked about Olivia's need for boundaries as a child in general but also as a special needs child and, on top of that, a very strong-willed child.  We discussed the inherent proclivity a parent might develop to soften boundaries because of a child's special needs, and how that will truly have a devastating outcome on the child's personality and even on her development.  It was a wake-up call for me to realize that we are entering a new phase of Olivia's development, and I must revamp our schema.  As the doctor spoke, I felt the mantle of parental responsibility growing heavier and heavier.  In fact, several times I noted how I was sitting and changed positions because I was beginning to literally slouch down into the chair too much.  Of course, the entire time all of this was going on, Olivia was all over the room--happy one minute, crying the next.  The only thing that got her quiet??  HER BOTTLE.  *sigh*