one of these is not like the others

Since Uli was tiny, she's had a hair-twirling, finger-sucking soother. 

We tried to talk to her about it. Encouraged her to stop. Pointed-out the marks her finger-sucking left on her skin. 

To no avail.

So we let it go. We didn't threaten her with future braces, nor did we attempt to shame her for being babyish. Just... let it go. Trusted her. And she carried on.

Until one day. Quite recently...

We realized everything had changed. We couldn't even remember when it had happened. 

But never fear. 

The tradition lives on.