The best $1.98 I've Spent So Far

I can't believe Miss Amelie will be four in just over a month. I feel like just yesterday, she looked like this:


Amelie used to suck three fingers. Over the fall (we're not even sure when), she stopped on her own without any prompting. Over the last six months or so, she was given a few incentives to stop, however, without much pressure. I told her we could go to Build a Bear once she stopped, which we have. (We got "Chocolate Cub" with an Ariel costume.) I also told her she could start to wear nail polish on her fingers. (Over the summer, we painted our toes and her thumbs and pinkies--the fingers that weren't part of the trio that was constantly in her mouth.) Amelie got two new bottles of nail polish in her stocking--pink and orange. We've done our nails several times since Christmas. I even let her paint the nails on my right hand once. (How else will she learn?) The most recent time we did it, the following conversation ensued--

Amelie: "Mommy? When I'm big and I have ten babies (this is from a conversation from several months ago, in which she named all of them), can we be friends?"
Me: "Of course we can! I'd love that!!"
Amelie: "Mommy? When I'm big and I have ten babies and a husband, can we be friends and I'll come over and we'll paint nails?"
Oh, sweet girl, that is the desire of my heart. I very much look forward to that day!

Another new love of Amelie's is photography. These are two hand self-portraits (as if you couldn't tell) of the "rainbow" she currently has on her nails. Man, I love this kid!