Bye Bye Lovie and Thumb

Way back at the beginning of May, Henry had a HUGE day. We started with Henry's second dentist appointment. There was much discussion on what a big boy he is and how great he is doing with brushing his teeth.  Then there was discussion about his little thumb sucking habit.  Unlike Aubrey, Henry's thumb sucking habit is 100% tied to his lovie.  Without it, he almost never sucks his thumb.  I was dreading the day we had to start working on his thumb, because I knew he would also lose his most prized possession. The dentist told me it almost never works to keep the blanket if their thumb sucking is tied to it.  Somehow after the appointment he decided he wanted to trade in his love for a new toy of his choosing (I had suggested this, but felt sure he would never agree).  So we headed right for the toy store and he picked out a space ship toy he has been eyeing ever since we gave the same one to his friend on his birthday.  He also picked out a marble maze.  I felt sure these two inexpensive toys would win out over lovie for only a short time... and I was right.

He did great all day, until bedtime.  He cried and asked to trade back.  Of course, there was no going back.  He just kept saying "I want my lovie."  All I could say back was "I know you do."  Nothing I could say would have made it better.  So, Brian curled up next to him until he fell asleep.  I expected this would take hours, but 30 mins later, he was out and slept all night.  He is usually a great sleeper, so I think the thumb is only in his mouth when he's trying to get to sleep, and not much after that.  The next few nights went really well and by night three, I was able to leave the room before he actually fell asleep.  Unexpectedly, the daytime was the absolute hardest!!!!  Whenever he would get frustrated, or hurt, or tired, he would cry and cry for lovie.  He just didn't know what to do.

It took a lot longer than I thought for him to stop asking for it, and our initial plan to lay with him for a little bit as he falls asleep has turned into a nightly request.  Some days I'm just too tired to say no, especially since if I do it, he's usually out cold in under 5 mins.  But if I don't, he comes out of his room a bunch, and it's maybe 20-30mins before he gives up.  Not a huge battle, but after 12 hours of parenting, I'm done at 7pm!

 I will say that two months later, he is still having a hard time coping with his emotions.  While he only rarely asks for his lovie, his tantrums have increased and I can't calm him as quickly as I used to.  I'm sure part of this is his age and summer, so I don't blame it all on the loss of his lovie.  But it sure was nice to be able to hand him that little blue elephant and know that it would make things a little better.  Oh, and he has "replaced" his lovie with a hot pink fleece blankie that was a gift from our squadron in Japan when Aubrey was born.  Funnily, he doesn't suck his thumb with it (at least I don't think he does).  I did hear a suspicious sound coming from his direction while we were camping, but I was so tired I could have been delusional.  Oh, and since Aubrey is STILL sucking her thumb at night, I bought the yucky nail polish and painted both of their thumbs.  So far so good with Aubrey, although it is taking her much longer to fall asleep and when she wakes up, she can't get back to sleep as quickly.  In a weird sleep state the other night, Henry got up to go potty and when I put him to bed, he tired to put is thumb in his mouth!!!!  I have not seen him do this once since lovie went away. He was not happy about the nasty taste, so hopefully that will not happen again!

Whew. That was a long post.  Hopefully this will be my last post ever about thumbs!