Goodbye thumb...

My little girl isn't so little anymore. She knocked our socks off this last month with her ability to stop sucking her thumb and give up her blanket for good. To some of you, this might not be a big deal, but if you know Taylor you understand just how big of a deal this is. To be honest, Ben gets all the credit here. He had been talking to her, encouraging her, and working with her on giving up the thumb and the blanket for a while now. If it wasn't for Ben, I'm pretty sure she would still be sucking her thumb and sleeping with her blanket . I love that about my husband, that he can offer something different than Mommy, and that he can step in where I am weak. It was very hard for me to make her give up her blanket. I just couldn't do it. I didn't even think it was necessary. I mean, I went to College with a blanket, so what's the problem? :) Not to mention, she has gone to sleep with her blanket and her thumb for the last 5 1/2 years... how could I possibly take away that comfort? Long ago we decided she had to leave her blanket in her bed for the day, and she also wasn't allow to suck her thumb outside of her bed. This worked because blanket and thumb always went together. However, she was often sneaking up to her room for a smell, or sneaking her blanket downstairs to watch t.v. and suck her thumb. Not to mention, long trips in the car, etc. So, Ben kept encouraging her to stop, talking to her about it, and then one night she decided she wanted him to take her blanket away. I was in complete shock. She asked him to take it and hide it so she wouldn't be able to find it. She knew she couldn't physically stop sucking her thumb, if she had her blanket. It was too big of a temptation for her. Well, here we are 4 weeks later and Taylor has not had her thumb or blanket for bed once. I am so proud of her. I really didn't see it coming. We rewarded her by allowing her to pick out a toy at the store, and she chose a Fur-Real Pet. At the 3 week mark we brought her blanket back out, and she smelled it and hugged it but then asked us to put it away. How impressive is that? If we could all be like that with our temptations and weaknesses as adults, huh? What a lesson. Isn't it so true, that this is exactly how God wants us to deal with the sin & temptation in our own lives? We must completely walk away from it. If we play around with it and keep it visible we won't be able to resist the temptation. My little girl has taught me a lot. So proud of you Taylor. I love you.