Sippee Cup Training

Yesterday afternoon, I made another rare and dreaded trip to Walmart to pick up a few necessities.  I had Millie Janalee with me, and I had a few more places to go...so I wanted to get what I needed in as few trips as possible.  Solution...Walmart.  It was just as enjoyable as I might have imagined.  I find it very interesting and partly disturbing the crowd that I see there.  Maybe it's just our local Walmart, or maybe I'm extra sensitive now that I'm responsible for this little person.  I made my way down the aisles in search of the items on my list.  As I walked down the baby aisle for diapers, I caught sippee cups out of the corner of my eye.  I remembered Roan suggesting I could go ahead and let Millie Janalee practice some during her supper if I wanted.  I looked at all the options.  Which one is the best to start with?  I had no idea!  I picked up a pack of Take 'n' Toss Training Cups and one regular Nuby sippee cup.  The Nuby had two different nipples to "grow with baby."  

"Is this how you do it, Daddy?"

You must remember that so many friends and family gifted us with nearly anything and everything we could ever need.  So I had very limited experience in the baby aisle. Ha!  If you know something different than what I got, don't tell me yet.  Because the damage is done.  At least until my next outing to Walmart or Target.  

I was feeding Millie Janalee her supper...sweet potatoes, avocado, and apples...when Russ got home.  I showed him my purchases, and suggested we see what Little Miss Thing would do with a little watered down apple juice in a sippee cup.  At first, it looked as if she was a natural.  Doesn't she look like a pro in the above picture?  Until we heard what was really going on.  Millie Janalee as just nawing on the spout thingie.  We could hear her little lone tooth knocking up against it everytime she bit down.  Nothing was coming out.  It was just a teething toy to her.

Then things started getting fun!  I guess she picked up on the monumental event when Russ got the video camera and I started snapping pictures.  Because she really started showing us what all she could do with this little funny shaped cup.  Like waving it around as apple juice sprinkled our floors and countertops.  

"Woooo!  See how I can shake it?!"

"Is this not what I'm supposed to do?"

"Are you proud, Daddy?"

"Watch how high I can hold it!"

"Okay.  I'll just set it over here by my dinner bowl."

 Millie Janalee was so proud of her new experience.  She was as smiley and giggly as ever.  And covered with sprinkles of apple juice.  I never could get her to actually drink anything from the spout, so I asked Russ to try it and see how hard it was to drink.  He confirmed that it wasn't that easy.

So proud!

If you look closely, you can see that little toofie poking through.

So I pulled out my second purchase.  The Nuby cup.  This one had a nipple like that of a bottle, so I assumed it had to be easier for her to drink.  We sat the cup in front of her, and she began exploring.  Too bad there wasn't a hole on the bottom or I'm quite sure she would've drank it all up!  After realizing she was going to lick and suck on the bottom of the cup for as long as we let her, I helped her turn it right side up and showed her how to lift it to her lips.

But those little handles are just too fun to play with!  Who wants to hold on to them and drink?  Not this spunky little girl!  She was still busy showing out.  Which is what she loves to do these days.  Grin as big as ever and show all her new skills - talking, yelling, spitting, waving, etc.  So she did all those things.  While holding a sippee cup full of watered down apple juice.  Well, it really wasn't full.  I filled it with an ounce of apple juice and an ounce of water.

"Such neat little handles, Mama!"

"Hmmm..."

"Tip it over and pour it out."

"Let's see if I can reach alllll the way over to the table with it."

"Let's see.  What else can I do with this cute cup?"

"Oh, I know!  I wonder if Mama and Daddy saw me pour apple juice on my head..."

Yep.  These are the fun days.  The messy days.  We are about to embark on a messy journey with Little Miss Priss.  You know the ones...self-feeding, sippee cup spills and leaks, crawling around with toys all over the place, pulling books off shelves, and tipping lamps over, etc.  These are the days! 

Just so you know, she did finally drink all the juice in the bottle.  Apparently, she just didn't want any juice right then.  So, she waited.  And drank it all with no problem at all.  Sippee cup training has begun!