Tags

Jonah sucks his thumb. He started sucking his right thumb regularly when he was about four months old, predominantly when he's tired and trying to fall asleep. His favorite way to suck his thumb was thumb-in-mouth and left hand rubbing the back of his head. I had thought about popping a binky in his mouth every time he sucked his thumb, but it was just so cute and I didn't have to hassle with a binky like I did with Genna.

When Jonah got a little older, he transitioned to sucking his thumb and rubbing a tag in his left hand, usually between his thumb and index finger. He started out with stuffed animal tags. He liked his "taggie" for a while (an infant toy with about a dozen tags; apparently tags are very popular with lots of kids). But then Jonah started having preferences in tags. He likes the "silky" ones best, secondly he likes the cloth-type. However, Jonah is always willings to test new tags. In fact, when he sees a tag, it's almost like he has an involentary reflex to test the tag. Genna has a dress where the tag sticks out, and when spotted by Jonah, he immediately puts his thumb in his mouth and starts reaching for the tag. Carter's brand pajama's have very silky tags, so when we're dressing Jonah for bed, he always has to suck his thumb and feel the pajama tag for a few seconds before putting it on. We often now just let Jonah sleep with an extra pajama set in his bed so he can suck his thumb and hold his favorite pajama tag. His brown jacket also has some very desireable tags. He now refuses to put on his jacket unless he gets a few seconds of thumb-sucking with each of the two tags on his jacket; one on the inner side, and one in the back by the collar. Jonah does not stop at traditional stuffed animal or clothing tags either. There's a tag on a rug that we have. He had to test it out. Fortunately, he didn't like the tag, so I haven't seen him do it since. Today, there was shipping box with a very smooth address label. He just wanted to test it out, so in went his thumb and the left hand felt the shipping label. Again, not a very good tag, but at least he can say he tried it. Mittens have great tags when Jonah is tired, so do hats. Another convenient tag is on the stroller that he loves to push around the neighborhood and playgrounds. It's perfect because if he gets tired, he can stop pushing and get a few hits off the stroller tag. I'm sure in a few months or maybe a few years I'll be pleading with him to stop sucking his thumb, but for right now, I think it is adorable.

Jonah had his hat tag on-deck when we were out to lunch today. 

An exhausting walk calls for a little thumb-sucking with the stroller tag

Playground today!

Wheeeeee!!!

Working hard. The helmet is because she was riding her balance bike.

Three musketeers on the slide

I don't know what we'd do at a restaurant without crayons

Jonah had a good lunch

Genna rarely eats as much as Jonah, but today she ultimately polished of the M&C and broccoli (already gone). 

Thanks, Noah, for taking such a flattering picture of me.

Why is that boy so cute in just his diaper?

Getting into trouble playing with daddy's computer

Balance bike