Maybe I'll drink the milk?

So yesterday was day two of the switching milk from the bottle to the sippy cup.

DH has the typical guy way of doing things, "He'll do this or else." I try to opt for the more subtle sneaky ways of convincing, and DH just outright says things must be done. I'm thinking this might help us later on because if one of us can't communicate clearly with Handsome the other one must be able to.

So yesterday afternoon Handsome woke up from his nap and DH took him outside to play. He didn't give him any food or water in hopes that when he got back inside DH could hand him the sippy cup full of milk and Handsome would have no choice but to drink.

They played outside for about an hour and then I got home so they came inside. DH handed Handsome the sippy cup, but Handsome knew what was up. No drinking milk from the sippy cup. He played and kept trying to give the sippy cup back. DH would try to put it in his mouth and Handsome would squirm his way out of DH's hands. He was tired and hungry, you could tell from his almost lethargic movements, but he would not give in.

I couldn't take it anymore so I made food and brought the water sippy cup to Handsome. At first he wouldn't even take the water because he was unsure whether it had milk or not.

We sat down on the kitchen floor with the milk close by and the water way over by DH. He ate for a little bit and then got thirsty. Did he take the closest sippy cup? Of course not. He walked all the way over to DH and got the water. He chugged for a while and then came back to eat more. He sat back down in my lap where now both the water and milk sat in his lap. He ate a little more and then a miracle happened. He drank the water... and then... when he thought no one was looking... he took a tiny little sip of the milk. Immediately it was followed up with water because you never know what that sippy cup milk could contain right? But then he tried the milk again... a little longer sip this time.

I tried to get DH's attention, but he was looking the opposite direction. I finally got his attention, but by that point, Handsome had been distracted and he got up to play. Boo.

But the stubborn streak had been broken. I'm not sure if it was the forcing initially, or the sneaky mix of water and milk sippy cups. Most likely it was because he finally just got curious. It was something new and he was unsure. It took a little while to get used to it, but he got there.

After his dinner was finished he would occasionally walk over to the milk and just try it. Never big sips. He just wanted to test it. To make sure it was safe. To make sure it was still there. To make sure it hadn't miraculously changed back into water.

And when he was tired and it was time to go to bed, I was holding him and gave him the milk sippy cup, and he drank. It wasn't the typical devouring of bottled milk; it was more a resigned, "I'm so tired, and I don't have the energy to resist any more. I do like milk, and I have no control over what container it comes in. Please just let me sleep."

So we are closer. I don't think he is going to resist for too much longer. Tomorrow could be a renewed energy to fight the milk sippy cup, but I think he's already accepted that the bottle is no more. This will make church more difficult, but oh well. People would have started giving me the evil eye for giving him a bottle anyway.