Thursday, October 15, 2009

Any Thumb Will Do

Our two previous* thumb-sucking sons, David and Tobin, were one-handed thumb-suckers--decidedly so. It was ALWAYS the left thumb, never the right.

Shav, proving once again that just because he's the fourth son doesn't mean he's a carbon copy of any of his big brothers, is perfectly content to suck either thumb. Today I laid him on my bed while I folded some laundry. He fell asleep, and I snapped this first picture.
Later I noticed that he had switched thumbs so I had to take another picture. After all, one can never have too many pictures of one's sleeping baby.
Shav seems to choose which thumb to suck based on the practical matter of which way his head is turned. Whichever thumb is closest wins the competition. It's simple, really.

And adorable.

* "Previous" by no means implies that they don't still suck their thumbs because they both certainly do. You might think that David was getting a little old for that. You might be right. Our dentist, Dr. Greene, who is well-known, well-respected, and well-liked in this household, told us that David isn't sucking long enough or hard enough to damage his teeth so we didn't have to put a stop to it yet. However, we have decided that when he turns five, David will need to stop sucking his thumb. The consolation prize is that he will GET TO CHEW GUM--a very eagerly anticipated consolation prize by a certain four year-old in our family.

5 comments:

Misty said...

cute! I never had a thumb sucker until Ana. She doesn't do it all the time but a few times throughout the day I'll catch her with her thumb in her mouth.

Margie said...

I had told Elizabeth she had to stop using her paci at age 5, but she lost it in August, and that was the end of that. It was hard, but she's made the transition and needs it no longer (she only used it to drop off to sleep). Interestingly, though, it impacted her entire going to sleep process. In other words, she no longer needs her stuffed animals, either.

I have to say, when I see these pictures of Shav, that I miss those sleeping baby looks. They're so beautiful they're almost otherworldly.

Bonnie said...

No thumb suckers here, but I think it's awfully cute!
We told Honey she can have gum when she is 5 too. (And a little bit of pop, not that we ever have it) She CANNOT wait!
Shav is getting so big!

Davene said...

Bonnie, "pop"? Goodness, you must be from the North. Around here, it's "soda" or "Coke" - but "pop," well, I haven't heard that in ages. :)

Margie - "so beautiful they're almost otherworldly" - I totally agree. I call Shav (and sometimes Tobin when he's sleepy) "my little angel," although I'm well aware that angels are probably not little and probably don't sleep like we do. But there's definitely a whiff of heaven present around a sleeping baby, and I don't know how to express that sometimes except through "angel."

Misty, I'm looking forward to Tuesday! :)

Kristen said...

Love it...my two suck binkeys, but from time to time I've wished one of them would have sucked their thumb...it's so cute. But, I suppose you could have more challenges while trying to stop the sucking. :)

Love all the updates...sorry I haven't commented for a while. :)