Hoofprints: Early Thumb Victory

Thumb sucking has been in this house since Abby was just a few months old. That's a whole lotta thumb sucking, to be honest. Evie came out of me just as eager to suck her thumb as her sister was. Abby didn't stop sucking her thumb until this past Fall. It came down to an ultimatum. She had stopped temporarily back in Pre-K, but the moment her last day of school was over she plopped that bad boy back in her mouth uttering, "Good. Now I can suck my thumb again." I told her it was either stop sucking it on her own, or she'd be using the nasty stuff you paint on their nails to stop them. We had to use the stuff. She reverted a few times but is now thumb free.

Evie, only being half of Abby's age, was still sucking hers. And honestly? I was okay with it. I knew she'd be going to pre-K earlier than the other two, but she needed it to get to sleep at night. After long days of school, she needed the comfort. I expected she'd be sucking that thumb well into Kindergarten or first grade.

Until...

One evening, she thought it would be a good idea to jump head-first into the couch. I'm not even sure how she did it, really. All I know is that I was walking into the kitchen when I heard her jump. Then I heard blood-curdling screams and she came at me with a mouth full of blood and a gash in her tongue that was quite frightening. The blood wouldn't stop and the nurse on the phone said if it didn't stop to get an ambulance out here. I called and they were here lickety-split. She was very brave as the nice firemen helped her out (who have been here more times than I'd like to admit). When the took a closer look at the gaping wound, it was called a through and through. She bit clear through her entire tongue. The paramedics came and we made the choice to go ahead and go with them in fear she'd puke up and aspirate on her blood on the drive there or (even worse) bite off her tongue completely.

Luckily, they said it would heal in no time and it required no further attention. Unluckily, it didn't heal like they promised. It took almost two weeks before it was fully closed. Poor Evie couldn't suck her thumb. It was extremely painful for her. She couldn't eat anything salty or crunchy for a week and I had to cut her food very small. It was horrible. But by the end of two weeks (still having some pain that lingered for a couple weeks after that), she hadn't sucked her thumb. It was hard and heart-breaking at first. But she got used to sleeping without it after a week. A month later and no thumb. She did try it once and cried telling me how much she missed her thumb. But then I convinced her that she was a big girl and didn't need it anymore.

Truth be told, as much as I complained about the germs and other lovely things that thumb sucking brings, having her suck her thumb was a reminder of her being my last baby. No thumb, no more baby. It tugged on my heartstrings way more than I ever thought possible. But she's a big girl now and I'm proud of her. Even if it was a mere side effect of a very bad night.

Our local heroes...again. We love our firefighters and take them cookies often. They know Evie very well now and always ask her how her tongue is when they see her. She loves it!