A BIG challenge and 'cation Bible school

The time has come to help Emily break her bad habit of sucking her thumb. We thought when we took her Gee (blanket) away on her 3rd birthday that would help. Previously holding Gee and sucking her thumb occurred simultaneously. But that theory proved wrong and she has continued to find her thumb - mostly when she is tired - even without Gee.

We have tried to convince her that she is hurting her teeth and that they might fall out. A few weeks ago, we told her that if she sucked her thumb while watching Max and Ruby, we would turn it off. It didn't take long to cure that part - nothing comes between Em and her favorite show. Then came the real challenge - bed/nap time. Last Sunday, I made a deal with her. If she would take her nap AND go night-night without her thumb, she could pick out her own nail polish. It took Jeff laying with her at nap time, but she did it...and she got her polish. The next reward was to get her fingers done if she could go two more nights. Did it!

The goal this week is to make it all week and then go see her first movie on Saturday.The ultimate goal is a swing set to be received when she stops completely. The hard part of that is that she still finds it WHILE she is asleep, but we'll keep working.

In earlier posts, we forgot to tell you how much fun Emily had at her first Vacation Bible School. I volunteered to be a leader mainly so that she could participate (otherwise she'd have to wait until kindergarten). I worked with the 5th graders so I didn't see her very much, but I know she had a great time. Music/dance time was her favorite - go figure! One of the themes of the week was learning to trust God and not be afraid. Each day there was a phrase for leaders to use to which children responded "Fear not." I still try to catch Emily off guard by saying - out of the blue - "did you know God cares for us?" She will quickly reply "Fear Not!" I guess that goes to show she really did pay attention and learn - yay!