Couldn't Ask For More: Where there's a will, there's a way!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Where there's a will, there's a way!

Black Friday 2011 was a big day in our family! It's a 2-post kind of day. First, the happenings for the littlest member of our family.

I'll begin with a little history. Two of our littles were pacifier binky boys. We attached those little plugs to their shirts and they loved them for a couple years. The binkies were great soothers and took care of whatever ailed a little peewee. Around the age of 2-3 they either accidentally spit them down the flushing toilet (oops, bye-bye binkie) or sucked them to the point of destruction. Before we knew it, they were done with the pacifier.

This was not the case with our little princess. She was blessed with two favorite fingers that soothed her endlessly. There was no chance these precious little appendages would actually get flushed down the commode. Within the last year we've gently encouraged her not to plug her mouth with her favorite fingers especially during the day. The more she felt stressed about quitting, the more she sucked! The skin on her pale little fingers was consistently shriveled like she'd been in a pool for days and we noticed they were looking a bit more crooked than the others having been held at an angle for years.

She really needed to quit, but I didn't want to stress her about it. It would come in her time. We're not big on bargaining with our kids. She either would quit on her own, or not.

To be honest, I cherished her little finger sucking. She's the youngest and when I'd look at her with those fingers in her mouth she looked liked the little baby I once knew. She wants the world to see her as an independent big girl. I think she'd gotten to the point where she didn't want people to know, but it's just too hard to quit.

Within the last year or so she set her mind on getting her ears pierced. She talked about it all the time. She would save her money and buy rhinestone-looking scrapbook embellishments and stick them to her earlobes. I told her when I was her age, I'd twist up aluminum foil and make hoop earrings and wear them like real earrings.

She asked constantly about getting her ears pierced. Our response was, "When you stop sucking your fingers..." We figured it wouldn't happen in quite awhile.

If you know our girlie, you know she's a girlie with a mind of her own.

She wanted her ears pierced...BAD!

At some point, late summer, she all of the sudden quit sucking her fingers!

We couldn't believe it!

There are probably times in her sleep when they creep back in, but during the day is basically non-existent.

She was so excited!

Her daddy told her, if she could make it 30 days, she could get her ears pierced. The countdown began.

But, it was soccer season.

She easily made it through the 30 days, but then had to wait until the end of soccer since the girls aren't allowed to wear any jewelry during the game.

Soccer finished last weekend so today was our first free day to make the trip to Claire's.

Her daddy filled out all the paperwork. She picked out her birthstone earrings. She was beaming! She was so excited, but yet so nervous! The two sales gals who were helping us had more hair color variations than I could count. There was turquoise, red, pink, and maybe a little brown mixed in. They had multiple piercings including ear discs, nose rings, and feathers hanging from the cartilage of the ear. They were so patient and kind to us.

A little girl about 4-5 years old noticed my girlie in the chair, looking hesitant. She told her daddy she wanted to come in to encourage our girlie. She came in to say, "Be Brave." How precious!

We took photos. Then before it happened, she jumped out of the chair and said, "I'm not doing it. Let's leave."