1,2,3,4 Jude Won the Thumb War

As terrible as it sounds, the thought of a baby/child NEEDING any single item too much is scary and intimidating to me. A list of things that I'm trying to keep Jude from having to have are:

- TV

- Video Games

- Security Blanket

- Pacifier

- That ONE stuffed Animal you can't sleep without.

Things like TV and video games I hope to avoid for obvious reasons: I want an active kid who isn't glued to the TV all day and night.

Security Blankets and Stuffed Animals are scary because what happens if it gets lost? What happens if you're on vacation and left it at home? Then what!? You have a terribly upset child who can't sleep because he doesn't have the one item that comforts him.

Then there's the Pacifier.... The sight of a parent unwilling to sooth their child naturally, so the only alternative for them is a pacifier makes me sick. This instant satisfaction of popping a pacifier in is just so unnatural to me. A mother should be able to pick their child up and sooth him/her with their voice, motions, etc. Obviously there are situations when a pacifier isn't a terrible idea (a screaming baby in a restaurant, when you're driving and they just won't calm down, etc.) but I hate the idea of them really NEEDING it regularly as opposed to their mother's love.

Thumb sucking is another thing that is a bit intimidating. I remember being in middle school and there being that one weird chick who still sucked her thumb. What's even scarier about thumb sucking than some of the items above is that the thumb is attached! Which makes it all the more difficult to break the habit.

Jude basically popped out of the womb trying to get one finger or the other in his mouth. As much as I have this vision in my mind of having to use the "no-bite" finger nail polish to make the taste of his thumb gross to deter him from sucking it when he's 10, I can't help but think it's adorable to watch him right now.

For quite awhile he struggled trying to figure the whole thing out. When he is really tired and starts to get cranky he would basically try to shove his whole fist in his mouth. He couldn't quite find his thumb and had no idea how to curl his other fingers in while popping the thumb out to fit comfortably in his mouth (this of course would make him even more upset).

Well, within the last week or so, it seems he's finally starting to get it. When I went to visit him at lunch the other day he was asleep on the couch with his thumb in his mouth.

I had been trying to catch him doing it long enough to get a picture and finally did tonight while we were strolling through the mall.

So, even though I'm terrified he'll be the weird kid sitting all alone in math class learning algebra with his dirty fingers in his mouth - I still can appreciate how adorable it is and how nice it is that he has found a way to keep himself soothed.