4 years, 6 months, 2 days

4 years, 6 months, 2 days - that's how long Ruby nursed.

She's been skipping days for a while now and I was really feeling ready to be done. (After all, counting her siblings, I've been nursing for 8.5 years straight!) So last week we made a contract.

Here are a couple of pictures of the two of us cuddled up together after she fell asleep nursing for the very last time a week ago Friday.



So, what was our agreement? She's been bugging me for about 6 months now to let her "get her ears punched." I told her if she could be a big girl and not nurse anymore, then she could go to the "Hannah Montana store" (a.k.a. Club Libby Lu) and get her ears pierced. In the past week she only asked to nurse once, and immediately followed the request with saying, "I mean I want scratchy" (me to rub/scratch her back). I didn't even have to remind her that she didn't nurse anymore.

So today we headed off to Libby Lu for the big moment. I was a little nervous about how she'd react if it hurt and praying that they would do both ears at the same time. She was as excited as could be.

She got sprinkled with fairy dust, picked out some sparkly rhinestone earrings and climbed up in the big pink chair. While the ladies cleaned her ears and got everything ready, she was enjoying listening to the Hannah Montana music and watching some other little girls who were dressed up and singing and dancing around. I was busy choking back tears at the thought of how BIG my littlest girl suddenly seemed.

She sat so still and quiet while they lined up the guns to pierce her ears. Not one single noise or even one tear from her. She looked a little surprised when it was done, like she wasn't sure that was all there was to it.

Admiring her new bling-bling in the mirror.

Close up of the rock star in the mirror.

It's a girl thing!

And here she is on the way home with her new bling-bling and her certificate. She couldn't wait to get home to show Daddy, Kaylee and Keithen.

How blessed both of us are that we were able to outgrow her need to nurse together, in our own time.