Sayonara Sucky Fingers!!!

Annelise has sucked her left middle & index fingers since she was two months old:

I am 100% serious when I tell you I have worried that she was going to do this into adulthood. I talked cessation methods & theories ad nauseum with friends. I even talked to Annelise openly about it: she's such a girly girl, and I thought if I painted her nails - or better, got her a spa mani! - that would be motivation enough to stop. Nope. She said several times she *wanted* to stop...but that innate desire was always more powerful than her logic, and she sucked the polish right off every time. It's the ONLY way she could relax, self-soothe, or fall asleep.

This must've just been divine timing... My mom had a Groupon to Shug-A-Bug Kids Spa for her last month:

Even though this was not her first spa day or mani, it was apparently the perfect confluence of her cognitive development, maturity, and girly fancy for perfect nails, b/c that was exactly four weeks ago, and she has NOT ONCE sucked on those fingers!!! :-O Even in her sleep! (Yes, I've checked. ;-))

I am absolutely thrilled to pieces... but (& I reserve the right to say the following as her mother in light of the fact that she is our last baby ;-)) I admit I do feel the tiniest sad twinge of "awwwww!" in the deepest recesses of my mama heart that our baby is truly growing up and becoming a young lady. OF COURSE I don't EVER want her to suck her fingers, again...but I'm still allowed that teensy-weensy, silly, fleeting ache. ;-)