Saying goodbye to "white blankie"

Since the day she was born (so probably even before she was born), Ada has been sucking her fingers. Somehow sucking her fingers became inextricably intertwined with sniffing her "white blankie" and twisting it in her other hand. This white blanket-finger sucking-sniffing-feeling thing has been Ada's comfort for almost 7 years. Over time we have reduced the places where the blanket can be and she has made a couple of half hearted attempts to fall asleep without it, but always the blanket is needed.

 But she is almost 7, and permanent teeth are coming in, and you just can't suck your fingers forever. 

At her last dentist appointment, the dentist said now that her permanent front teeth are on their way in, she really needed to break the habit of sucking her fingers. I think hearing from the dentist how her front teeth could stick out if she kept up her habit was enough to inspire Ada to think seriously about putting her blanket away for good (without the blanket, she doesn't suck her fingers). We made a plan to put the blanket away in her memory box and take her on a special date to Build-A-Bear. Sensing that we needed to act quickly on this enthusiasm, we forged ahead and in just a couple of days after the dentist appointment, we had the Build-A-Bear date scheduled. 

So we washed the treasured blanket and got ready to put it away. There had already been some tears, but putting the blanket away was almost too much for her. She cried and cried. And I tried not to cry. It was, I think, the saddest thing I have ever had to do as her mom and I felt so bad for her. But she did it!

We ended up cutting a piece of the blanket off to put in her Build-A-Bear (her comment as I cut was "It is so hard to see white blankie this way"). It was so fascinating and sad and bittersweet to see her struggle between being a little girl and taking a step towards growing up (because I think that is really what this was for her--a symbolic step away from being little, which is exciting and scary for her and I don't think she can decide which it is more of). 

The last sniff of her precious blanket

At the Build-A-Bear with the winning animal (pre-stuffing). She had made a list beforehand of potentials, and then narrowed it down by testing each one for how huggable and soft it was, and how it smelled. When she tried out the bunny she said confidently, "This is the one." This whole process was so sweet and endearing that I had to keep from crying. 

She was so excited to show her new bunny to Cambel and Oliver. Cambel can be so kind in situations like this. He worried about how Ada would do without her blanket and was excited with her about her bunny.

Her first night without her blanket was a little rough, but we have gone over a week now and she is doing great. And now instead of a blanket attached to Ada, we have a bunny. But at least no finger sucking!