No More Fingers in my Mouth!
If we had one of those way cool 3D ultrasounds that my husband refused to get (I am still bitter), we probably would have captured a photo of Mara with her two fingers in her mouth. She has done it since to moment she was born. She did it during the day, especially when she slept or was upset, but it was pretty much an all the time thing. In the beginning it was cute, for awhile, we barely did not even notice it, in the last 6 months though, we were wondering if her high school graduation picture would have that pose.
Even Princesses Suck their Fingers
An After Dinner Treat
Professional Photos...yes, we paid for this
I asked her once if she would take her fingers out of her mouth….NO!
I gave her a paci (at 2+ years old)….NO!
Oh, well. The dentist was not overly concerned so we let it lie.
Then we had Little Preds camp (More on that later). Tiffany, our friends’ nanny, took the girls off while we were watching the boys play. They came back with their nails all polished and pretty. Mara had her nails polished for the very first time! She was so excited! I was so excited!
The next day we picked Mara up from school and took her to hockey where we showed Tiffany her 8 beautiful nails…and 2 nails with polish clean off! She had sucked the polish right off (what are the chances that was not Made in China?!?!)
It was then that daddy had an awesome idea.
If Mara could last a week without putting her fingers in her mouth…she and mommy would go get real mani/pedi’s!
It was magical…she was transformed and dedicated. She shrieked and said “I not put my fingers in my mouth!”
She repeated this to everyone she met.
It was as if she was quitting smoking. She went cold turkey. We very rarely had to remind her. One time, she went to do it and stopped as soon as her fingertips touched her lips. She took them out very quickly (with no prompting from us) and started to cry. I have no doubt that this was the hardest thing she has ever done in her young life.
The days turned into nearly a week and still no fingers. That weekend, we took her to get her mani/pedi. She sat in the butterfly chair and they turned on the water and she cried. Oh well, the divas first spa treatment would have to wait.
It has been almost a month and no change! She is still finger-free! Mommy and Daddy and Thane are so proud of you Mara!
the attachments to this post:
Fingers
Fingers2
Fingers3
What a big girl! I had to choke back my own tears when I read that she actually started to cry when she caught herself putting her fingers in her mouth. What a testament to her determination! I love it!
Seriously Julie, it was painful to watch. Broke my heart but she was so great about it. And, she has kept it up. Still very proud of herself.