The Thumb Sucks

Well, Elena is officially a thumb sucker. Those that have recently seen her have witnessed this. Since she has been a newborn, she has not been fond of the pacifier, and that was ok with us.... That is until she stuck that thumb in her mouth! Don't get me wrong, it is cute as can be, and it is nice that she can soothe herself when she starts crying, however now that she is start to grab and touch everything I already see the thumb becoming a petri dish of nasty germs, not to mention I get flashes of the future... getting her diploma at HS graduation sucking her thumb and having mangled teeth from all those years of not being able to "kick the habit"! (I put those words in quotes because that is something my dad always said growing up about anything Rob and I did consistently wrong - HA HA Rob and I say this to each other all the time while imitating my dad's accent. It's funny.) Or what if she is at a sleepover party and starts sucking her in the middle of the night! How embarassing! My good friend that is a kindergarten teacher said that a kid in her class had to get a retainer type thing installed in the roof of his mouth with 2 prongs that poke his thumb when he tries to suck it (OUCH!). I figure if I can nip it in the bud now, then I will try, so we have been practicing the pacifier more often now. She definately prefers the thumb though, so if she is really really upset and won't take the pacifier, then I let her. It's a hard decision though. If I knew she could stop before kindergarten, then I would be fine, but what if she is one of those kids that get obsessed with it? So in the meantime, we will practice the pacifier, which is just as cute to me.