Joseph says good-bye to a good friend

This is Joseph at 15 months with his "bear blankie" and "favorite one." He only sucks his thumb with his blankie while holding on to his favorite long tassle.

While we were at the dentist a couple of weeks ago, she mentioned to me that Joseph's thumb sucking would really start to mess up his teeth when he starts losing his baby teeth. Then later that day, he was sucking his thumb with his blankie in front of the TV, when he said, "Remember, Mom, when the dentist told me sucking my thumb would hurt my teeth? I don't need this." and he took his blankie to his room. Needless to say, I was impressed, but I didn't really think it would last. I washed his blankie that day and found it the laundry after my Dad had put him to bed. Never has he gone to bed without his blankie in his 4 years of life! Joseph hasn't spoken a word about it since.

Talk about the power of suggestion! It's inspiring to me, really, how he's quit cold turkey because his blankie was such a comfort item to him. He used to beg for it when he was upset. But he made a conscious decision and stuck to it. I think he gets that from his Dad. On the other hand, my Mom was teasing me that now begins the the time of his life when every other adult's opinion matters more to him than his parent's. That doesn't sound fun.

So good-bye old friend! I won't miss washing you, tripping over you and trying to locate you. But as proud as I am of my big boy, I will mourn the loss of this little boy era.