Houston.....We Have a Thumbsucker

Yep, despite my never-ending pushing of a pacifier in her mouth, Brenna is a thumbsucker. It took her 9+ months, but she's finally managed to get past the pacifier. You may can sense the dread in my 'voice'. I want to stop and explain that I have no ill will towards other kids that suck their thumbs...it doesn't bother me whatsoever. But. I was a thumbsucker. And I sucked my thumb for a long time when I was a kid. And I can remember it being very traumatic when THEY (the evil parents) tried to get me to quit. The yucky tasting stuff, the fingers taped up, the threats, the rewards, etc. It was just on and on and on..... For the longest time, that's how I deciphered my right hand from my left. I knew that I sucked my right thumb. :-P Anyway, I just didn't want my kid(s) to have to go through that. I remember thinking (even at a young age) that I wished they had just given me a pacifier as a baby to make it easier for me. I mean, face it. A pacifier is a lot easier to take away than a thumb. We can all agree on that. And while a thumb is a lot easier to aid in self-soothing when they are little, it's much more of a hassle to get rid of the habit later in childhood.

So, I'm a little bummed. I really thought we made it. I mean, geesh! She's almost 10 months old and is just now 'finding' her thumb and how well it works to suck on. She'll still take a pacifier and still 'needs' it to quiet her down sometimes. She still goes to sleep with a pacifier. And only 'uses' her thumb when there's not a pacifier handy. So, my only hope is that she isn't sooo attached to the thumb (since she is an older baby) that it won't become *that* bad of a habit and in turn won't be *that* hard to get rid of.

She is kinda cute sucking her little thumb though, isn't she? (and right after I say that, I think...yea, but it won't be so cute when she's a walking talking preschooler. <.< )