Trixie is on the cusp on being able to suck her thumb. How difficult is it to learn to suck your thumb you might ask? Well, without coordinated motor-control skills, it takes a lot of effort just to get your thumb in your mouth. However, if you manage to accomplish this, then the remaining fingers become an issue.
This is because you can’t control individual digits. Your hand operates like binary — it only has two states: flexed into a fist or splayed open. If it’s open, you can suck your thumb but then your other fingers wander around your face eventually finding (and gouging) your eyeball sockets. If the state is closed then your thumb is of course drawn back into your fist, equally frustrating.
The solution is to help stabilize Trixie when she tries to suck her thumb. If her hand is open, we try to help her close it a little, or at least get her fingers away from her eyes. If it’s closed, we try to separate out the thumb and get it back into her mouth. It’s fun, and it can keep her entertained for ten minutes.
Today we played the Strauss waltz from “2001: A Space Odyssey” and pretended that her thumb was trying to dock with her mouth. This might seem overwrought but the analogy is sound, thumb-sucking really does take as much effort as a high-orbit docking procedure. Plus she likes the music.
If she is going to resemble any Kubrick movies, you are lucky this is the one. The Shining, Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove, Eyes Wide Shut…hard to handle in a baby. Even in The Killing she wouldn’t end up with the stolen money at the end. Maybe Barry Lyndon would be okay, since Trixie already has pretty good cinematography.