Bray's Lovie

Braylen is following in his sister and mother's footsteps by being a thumb sucker.  His thumb has helped him fall asleep for months.  In the last month he has showed interest in the stuffed monkey that has been propped in corner of his crib for many, many months.  Instead of snuggles and songs from me, he would rather fall asleep in his bed snuggling up with monkey.  No objection with that!

A few days post bleacher accident (butterfly
band-aid) and falling off chair at church (huge
goose egg on the middle of his forehead). 

Braylen melts my heart the way he holds that monkey when we put him down to bed.  Time will tell if this "lovie" will be the one for many, many years.  

A Furry Friend of the Stuffed Kind

I think by this point a lot of toddlers have a lovie whether it is a favorite snuggle blanket or a stuffed animal.  Being a first time parent I'm not sure if you train your child to have a lovey or if it just happens.   Well, Evie doesn't have one.  My girl is happy to go to bed with nothing except her thumb.

I had a blanket for YEARS when I was little.  I can almost still remember how it smelled and the difference between my well loved blanket and my freshly washed blanket (always happened at Nana's house).  I was also very obsessed with stuffed animals until about 26 years old.  My puppet rabbit, which ended up being sown together to increase its longevity, went everywhere with me.  I did not take it to college though.  I think that's when my parents drew the line. 

I see my niece following in my footsteps- a thumb sucking, blanket needing, "puppy" loving girl.  I'm starting to see Evie mimicking similar traits.  She sucks her thumb when she is unsure, tired, or just bored.  No blanket or animal though.

As I was recycling old papers, I came across a developmental milestone list from Infants and Toddlers.  At 12 months it said your child should be playing with dolls and stuffed animals.

Out came all the stuffed animals that night. 

I quickly realized why I waited so long to get them out...

...the stuffed animal eating dog!

Evie loves her dog so much that she wants to pull his fur and ears to play with him.  Jason trained Parker very well to not snap at her, but it still worries me.  Parker doesn't run away though.  I think he likes the attention and his sister giggling at a high decibel.  A stuffed animal might be a good solution to the fur pulling issue... or make it worse.

"Pinkie" as we call her, is Evie's new friend.  Evie took to her new friend quickly walking around with her, hugging her, putting her in and out of her chair no less than 35 times, and letting her ride in her cardboard "boat".  She only plays with Pinkie on the main floor right now.  I'm ok with her not officially becoming her lovey... yet

Stuffed Animals are the BEST

Thanks Pops and Paula for "Pinkie"!