A Sad Day

Most people know that Isaac has a lovey--a blue doggy blanket with big floppy ears that he refers to as "Dog-dog". And most people know that whenever Isaac gets tired or when he is just zoning out he likes to suck on his third and fourth left fingers while pressing dog-dog's tail with his right hand right up against his nostrils. He just gets so much pleasure out of this. Well, due to some external pressure (grandparents) as well as the growing callus on his finger we've decided to discourage him from this practice. For the past few weeks we've been telling him to stop putting his fingers in his mouth, but he would just laugh at us and continue sucking and sniffing away. Sometimes he would boldly call attention to himself saying, "Look, Mommy!" and grin at me while doing it right in my face. Clearly, he was laying down a challenge.
So, I decided to borrow something called, "Stop!" from our dear friends the Alexanders who used it on their son successfully. It's a clear nail polish that when tasted leaves a ridiculously horrible taste in your mouth. I was eager to use it on Isaac at first, but then got some last minute jitters. What if he has a total meltdown? What if he can't fall asleep ever again? What if it makes him sick? So I put it off for a few weeks.

Anyways, today Isaac decided to skip his nap so I knew he was going to be really tired at bedtime. I thought tonight might be a good night to try it out. I'd told him about this "special lotion" that I was going to put on his fingers to make him stop sucking them so he knew about it. He would even say every once in a while to me, "Mommy, I don't want the special lotion." Anyways, tonight after his bath I told him we were going to put it on and I guess I caught him in a good mood because he agreed. He even told me that he didn't want to suck his fingers anymore. So I put it on his third and fourth left fingernails and warned him that if he sucked on them they would taste really, really bad. Some time between reading him his books and tucking him into bed he must have taken a taste because I noticed him smacking his lips. I asked him if he put his fingers in his mouth and he said, "yes." He asked for some water so we brought a cup up to put by his bedside. He laid down in bed and then did something that really surprised me. He gave me dog-dog and said, "I don't want him anymore because he'll make me want to suck my fingers." That made me sort of sad. This was going to be the first night since he was around 8 months old that he would sleep without his dog-dog. It was really really sad. Anyways, it took him about half an hour of tossing and turning, 3 or 4 times of getting up to drink water, and a little crying bout before he finally drifted off to sleep with his hands on his chest. I got to watch him because he wouldn't let me leave and I didn't have the heart to discipline him like we would usually do in that situation. A few times he brought his hand close to his mouth and then bring it down again. At one point he held his hands together to try and keep from putting them in his mouth. After he was sound asleep I got up and left. I hope he gets through the night okay.

So, it's sad to see him no longer need dog-dog or his fingers. My little Isaac is not a baby anymore. I guess he's right when he tells me proudly, "I'm a big boy!" Sniff, sniff.