More ramblings....

That post was getting long and I must be long winded today, so I started another post.

On the subject of Gulf Shores...our Condo is right across the street from Hooters. Doesn't take 2 boys in this house to figure out what that means. Of course, Logan was happy to inform Brandon (without my permission) what HOOTERS were. We will be gone on Barry's birthday, but we will not be taking the family there. Barry and dad may have to go over there for some wings or something during the week, though. We haven't been to Gulf Shores since Logan was 6 and Brandon was 3, so it will be so neat to see them at the beach again. They have been dying to go to the ocean again since then. We went to Michigan 2 summers ago and the Lake Michigan was so rough that it seemed like the ocean, but the gulf will be neat for them to be at and play in the sand, etc. We can't wait.

Ok...the war has begun on helping Anna not suck her fingers anymore. It is driving me crazy that she is almost 4 and still sucks her fingers. Usually it is just when she is tired, but lately it has been becoming more often. I think it is holiday related or something, too. So, the war has begun. I really do regret in some ways even allowing her to do this when we met her in China, but how could I take away the one constant thing in her life and the only things of comfort in her world. After all, we did take her away from every familiar smell, the Chinese language that she was learning and all that was familiar in her life in the Social Welfare Institute. For a VERY independent and smart girl who potty trained herself before age 2.5, I am hoping that kicking this habit will come soon. However..I did say how independent she is and also very headstrong. She kept wanting to suck her fingers at a basketball game Saturday and also at church on Sunday. I know there are worse things in the world, but how appropriate is it for someone to still be sucking fingers a month shy of age 4. Any suggestions on helping her kick the habit? I can only do things to help her stop in the daytime. When she is sleeping...who knows how to stop that. I am trying to explain to her that germs get in her mouth from sucking them, that she is a big girl and big girls don't suck on their fingers and that her teeth are moving in the wrong direction because she sucks her fingers. Anyone remember this little girl we met in China and moments after getting on our travel bus we discovered she sucked her fingers in the I LOVE YOU sign? And she always had a way to suck and cover it up. Many of the girls in our travel group did this we think as their way to hide it from the Nannies in China. Many still suck their fingers today like Anna.