The end of the noonie

I have been trying to wean Jacob off of the noonie for the past couple weeks. I had been afraid to take it away from him before for a couple reasons: I didn't want him to turn to his thumb for comfort like I did when my pacifier was taken away (much harder to break the thumbsucking habit--trust me!). I also have been dreading the return to sleepless nights due to him waking up 3 or 4 times a night crying. He just started really sleeping through the night on a consistent basis a couple months ago.
I took him to the dentist for his second check-up a couple weeks ago. He said it was time. Luckily, he had a wonderful suggestion on how to get rid of the noonie. He told me to cut a little bit off of it every day, and Jacob would eventually not want it because he wasn't getting any comfort from it. It has been working slowly, but it hasn't been easy. He has been fussier than normal. I barely cut anything off of it the first night, but he knew. He took it out of his mouth and looked at it long and hard. Then he told me that he didn't like that noonie. I told him it was the only one we had, and he proceeded to throw it across the room! He has accepted that the noonie gets smaller everyday, but he is still hanging on to it some. He only asks for it at bedtime now.
Last night we hit a milestone. He didn't ask for it when it was time to go to bed. I decided to see what would happen, so I didn't give it to him. He went to sleep without it!! I was so excited! I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Now, if I could only get him to sleep through the night again.