She's All Grown Up!

Lydia has been an avid thumb sucker since she was just a couple months old. It has been such a comfort for her through her recent trials, but her Daddy and her siblings wanted it to stop. Me on the other hand could have cared less, but I was sick of hearing the rest of the family complain. I would often hear from Adam, "STOP GETTING YOUR THUMB JUICE ON MEEEE!!!" David of course, was worried about her sucking her thumb at kindergarten next year. So, I came up with a brilliant idea that I am still in shock that it actually worked. Lydia has been sad since we sold our Degu last month and said almost daily how she'll never have a pet that's her very own again! So, the only pet we are willing to get at this point in addition to our two cats and a gecko, is a simple Betta fish. We told Lydia that if she didn't suck her thumb for a whole week she could have her very own fish. She totally bought it and it was just the right motivation for her. Anytime she felt like sucking her thumb I would either put a band-aid on her thumb or get her something to munch on. She was so good about telling us when she was tempted and that week was easy breezy! She only needed a bandaid on her thumb for the first three nights, and other than that she only needed a few extra snacks to satisfy that urge to have something in her mouth. Of course David told her if we catch her sucking her thumb again, he'll flush it down the toilet. Don't worry, I'll make sure she has a few chances before resorting to such drastic measures. We're so proud of her! Here she is with her new pet Betta fish, Rainbow.