How my two-year-old's courage helped me confront my own resistance to change.

He Let Go. I Learned.

Today, my two-year-old taught me what real courage looks like.

He gave up his beloved baba—his bottle.

Now, to anyone on the outside, it’s just a bottle.

But to him? It was everything. His comfort. His regulation. His way of saying “I need help” or “I feel scared” without words. He never took a pacifier—this was his thing. And we took it away.

We planned to wean him slowly over the summer.

But after his two-year checkup last week, his iron came back low from too much milk—and so we had to stop cold turkey.

Today was Day 1. And I braced myself for battle and prayed A LOT!

The morning hit hard. He always started his day with a bottle—it was his version of morning coffee.

He unleashed his signature screech (parents, you know the one) for 20 minutes straight. My ears rang. My heart cracked.

We took a family trip to Target and let him pick out a shiny new BIG BOY CUP. We made it a huge deal. Clapped. Cheered. “You’re TWO now—two-year-olds get BIG BOY cups!” He smiled. But I could see it in his eyes—he knew something had changed.

And then nap time came.

He was tired, and he asked for his bottle.

Instead, we handed him the cup he chose. “You’re a big boy now,” we reminded him gently.

I carried him upstairs and whispered to my husband to pray hard.

I put him in his crib and he immediately started to cry. He wanted to be held and go out. I knelt down next to the crib and let him cry on my shoulder as I hugged him tight and told him he would be ok!

After a few minutes of sobbing, he picked up his head and looked at me. He looked back at the spot where his bottle used to live and was now replaced with the big boy cup. And he stood there looking back and forth between me and his new “big boy cup”.

We locked eyes.

I blinked back tears and said, “You’ve got this. Big boys use big cups. You’re not alone—we’re right here, and we are SO proud of you.”

He paused.
Looked back at the cup.
Back at me one last time.
And then… he reached for the cup, laid down, and fell asleep.

I quietly closed the door. And then I cried.

Not just from relief—but from awe.

In his tiny hands was a massive life lesson I needed to be reminded of:

Growth often feels like loss.
But when you remember who you're becoming, comfort can come in new forms.

This wasn’t just about a bottle.
It was about change. Growth. Letting go.

So today, here’s what I’m carrying forward:

• Change is hard, but we are stronger than our habits.

• Letting go—of comfort, of control, of what once was—is an act of love.

• Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is take the next step without the thing we think we need most.

To every parent (and every adult) facing a cold-turkey moment:
1. Remind yourself why you’re doing it.
2. Reach for the “big person cup.”
3. And trust that comfort can take a new shape.

Today, my little guy was the strong one.
🙏 And I’ll never forget it.