Tomorrow my firstborn turns FOUR! I can’t believe that four years have passed since his birth. Last year I wrote about his birth, so I won’t put you through that again, but I do have to tell you a funny story from today.
For a long time we have been talking about how when Cayden turns four he is not going to suck his thumb anymore. It is something we’ve been talking up around here and suprisingly he has been okay with it. So today at lunch I asked him if he was still up for the deal of getting rid of the thumb. He said yes and was excited about it.
I put the boys down for their nap and when I was putting Cayden down he asked for his monkey. He has had this monkey since he was about 4 months old. His Great Aunt Sarah brought it for him and he just attached to it for some reason. He sucks his thumb and holds the monkey with the other hand and rubs the ear of the monkey. So you see they go hand and hand. If he has the monkey then he is sucking his thumb. He always wants his monkey at bedtime. He used to want it all the time, but now it is limited to bedtime. We have a back up monkey just in case we lose the monkey but he knows the difference when he rubs the ears and won’t take it! I used to think it was super cute to hold the monkey and suck his thumb, but now at four we’re hoping this practice doesn’t go until he is FIVE!
So today at nap time as he was sucking his thumb and rubbing the monkey’s ear I reminded him that tomorrow he’ll be FOUR and then no more thumb for the big boy! He then throws the monkey on the floor and asked me cover up his arms so he can’t suck his thumb! Ha!
I just went to check on him and sure enough monkey is in hand and thumb in mouth! This might be a long process, but we’ll work through it. We’re not going to pressure him but we will talk about it lots and encourage him so that when he’s ready he has our support!
Oh the struggles of being FOUR!
dreamingBIGdreams.net 
oh my gosh… he’s not a kid anymore! he’s a little man!
I knew his birthday was close! Congratulations, Cayden.
I wouldn’t fret over the thumb sucking thing. I had a thumb sucker and she outgrew doing it much during the day but would still do it when going to sleep (while holding a blanket and rubbing the corner). She finally saw an orthodontist and they had a mouthpiece put in that not only fixed her mouth’s bridge but also prohibited her from sucking her thumb. Poof! Done deal…. no stress, no work. My philosophy on that was, “she will eventually stop because she won’t go to Middle School with her thumb in her mouth” and any teeth issues can be fixed. Chances are they’ll need braces anyway”. (ha!) Good luck and tell Cayden the Nolan’s said Happy Birthday!
When Ryan turned 2 we took his thumb away. We would put bandaids on his thumb to keep him from sucking it. It worked if you ever feel like you need more than words 🙂 Problem was for him it was just reflex to put the thumb in the mouth but with the bandaids he couldn’t really suck so he eventually quit.
Oh girl, our boys were born exactly one week apart. 🙂 Dano turns 4 next Wednesday on the 23rd. 🙂 Lukily for us we never had to deal with the thumb or pacifier, Dano never took either one. I hope your little guy has a wonderful birthday and we’ll be praying for the thumb. Maybe if you give him a new animal like a girraffe or something and tell him that it’s a big boy toy that ONLY 4 year old big-boys get to have… ? That might work…
Ummm…I sucked my thumb until I was 7. NO LIE! And I didn’t have to have braces…but I have heard of the thing Tammy is talking about, Jenn’s daughter Madison had it and it worked like a charm. Granted, it cost 400 dollars but you know…….it’s cheaper than braces! 🙂 I always figured Evyn will be walking down the aisle at her wedding bouquet in one hand and fingers in her mouth.
We talked up “dressing yourself” when you turn four. It didn’t occur to me until my mom pointed it out, but that could have been the reason Eli didn’t want to have a birthday or be 4!! He still tells me he wants to be a 3 year old! I guess it was a good year for him!:)
Bon Fet! Happy birthday!
How sweet that he wanted you to cover up his arms! What a cutie!
Happy Birthday Mister. I hope you all have a great celebration day.
I sucked mt thumb till I was like 7. haha
Happy Birthday Cayden! We love you very much & are so proud of the man that you’re becoming! We’ll never forget getting the call from your Dad that you had arrived! Tell your parents to give you an extra piece of cake today 🙂 Love you!
What a cutie! Happy Birthday Cayden!