Sippy Cup Saga

So, we have known for many months that we were technically supposed to have D weaned off the bottle at one year. Nice thought in theory...reality has been MUCH different :). For months, he has staunchly refused the sippy cup. The only thing D felt the sippy cup was appropriate for was playtime. I tried everything. I removed the valve. He took a few "sips" this way, but mostly continued to push the sippy away. I tried it with formula. I tried it with water. I tried it with milk. Still no luck. As his one year birthday rapidly approached, I started to get nervous. Our pediatrician would think we were bad parents neglecting our job. Our kid still wanted four bottles a day. As my stress increased, my efforts to get D to take the sippy also increased. He finally relented and drank milk as long as the valve wasn't present. The problem with this? There was no giving the sippy to D because he still played with it and no valve=big mess! We decided to eliminate two bottles/day and just go with the sippy since at least he was getting fluid via the sippy. And then something miraculous happened. Two days ago, D finally got it...yes, with the valve! So, today he is down to one bottle in the morning, and the goal is to eliminate that within a few days. His one year appointment with the doc is Monday, so perhaps we can report that we are truly done with the bottle by then. Please keep your fingers crossed that we continue to have sippy-success :)!