Jinja and Shoga: Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

Apparently my niece is still sucking her thumb, despite the fact that she'll be 5 in early December. There's talk of getting her a thumb guard, since she herself wants to stop, too, but can't seem to break the habit. I guess it runs in the family, since my brother used to suck his thumb for quite a few years! We even used to have a family joke that he needed to go to TSA (Thumb Suckers Anonymous). 　
Our baby, too, is a 'thumb' sucker. The first night that we got her, I voiced a bit of concern over the fact that her right front forepaw was discolored, sort of yellowish. We weren't too sure what could've caused it...until she began to settle down for the night, curling up and proceeding to purr and suck on a 'nipple' that she fashioned out of the fur on that leg. It's really cute when Wasabi 'nurses', since she also tries to knead with both paws, too, causing her little head to follow along until she eventually passes out. The vet told us that she may or may not grow out of it...we're hoping that she doesn't, though!