Baby

This is Baby.

When I was pregnant with Emily I did what most first time mom's do and read a bunch of books. One such book talked about "lovey's". Bret and I had talked about the fact that we both wanted our kids to sleep in their own bed as much as possible if not all the time. Feeling a little guilty about this separation I decided it would be a great idea for Emily to have a lovey. So when my mom bought this adorable, soft, little blanket with a bear's head on it I thought this was ideal. The book said that I should sleep with the lovey for several nights so that it would smell like me and be more of a comfort for the baby since it wasn't sleeping with me. So I did..for a month.

Then when we brought Emily home from the hospital I laid the lovey next her every time she laid down to sleep. It worked. Emily started from a very early age to sleep with it on her head. Then she started carrying it around with her everywhere. It wasn't until she was close to a year old and she accidentally left it at the babysitter's house and was an absolute wreck and would not stop crying and we had to drive across town at 9:00 at night to get baby so that she would calm down did we realize what a terrible mistake we had made. So we started to try and establish some ground rules. Baby was only allowed in bed. We did not take Baby anywhere unless we were going over night and then mommy packed Baby to make sure it made it and didn't get lost.

One time we left Baby in Kansas. This was catastrophic. Although we contemplated having her overnighted we knew that her aunt was coming for a visit in less than a week. It was the longest week of all of our lives. My mom, thinking it would be nice, washed Baby. When Emily got her she was so upset. I didn't understand why since I wash Baby fairly regularly but Emily was quick to explain that she didn't smell right. Must have been the detergent. My poor mom got an earful.

Emily is 6 years old and can tell you exactly how many times she has slept without Baby.

On one hand I am thankful that Emily has something that gives her comfort when she is tired, or hurt, or sad. On the other hand Bret and I are both tired of the regular searches for Baby when it comes time for bed.

Emily got sick on Saturday night which was the day I got completely caught up on laundry. Baby happened to fall victim to some of Emily's sickness and had to be put in the dirty laundry. Between Bret's call schedule this week, school, work, and soccer I didn't have time to get the laundry done. This morning before Emily left for school she quietly asked me to please please do laundry today. She made me cross my heart and pinkie swear that I would wash her today.

Although there is no hope for Emily and her Baby Bret and I have made sure that we didn't repeat the same mistake with any of our other kids. Palmer usually takes a car or two to bed. Doesn't matter what car any will do. Logan sleeps with a blanket but again doesn't matter which blanket. I know that some mom's are smarter than I and have several loveys that they trade out. Having a new one would never work to trade out because there is something about the worn love Baby now shows. I can't tell you how many times Bret and I have prayed that nothing happens to Baby. Or how many times we ask each other if we have Baby so that it is not left anywhere. When I tucked Emily in tonight I saw her tuck her nose into her and smell her. She told me thanks for washing Baby mom. You are welcome Emily.