if you think moms who talk a half hour about mundane things like what baby food brand to buy or the color of their kid’s poop, this post is going to annoy you. just stop reading now. don’t say i didn’t warn you. (but i promise, that’s the last time i’m going to say ‘poop’ on this blog. done. never again, and perhaps by the end of this post i will have decided to retract and backspace that one anyway.)
it’s a long post about a blanket, but for the sake of documenting the things that make my child who she is, it needs to be typed up and preserved in blogland. this darn puppy blanket is a huge part of her identity.
it all began with a frog. a frog blanket that was given to me as a shower gift that soon became her favorite blankie.
following the advice of all my mommy friends who said, “if they have a favorite blankie, make sure you buy two,” i decided to buy another one. problem was, it had no tag, no brand name and i had no idea where to get another one. so i googled every possible combination of frog/blankie/frog with blanket attached/frog with yellow piping blanket, etc. until i finally found the exact same frog. it’s a jaag plush and it comes in different versions. so, we decided to expand her collection to include not only a frog but a lamb and a bear.
so, now she had three favorite blankets.
…until her first birthday when, feeling extra sweet, we ordered one more…a puppy. a puppy that, unbeknownst to us would not only become her favorite (she doesn’t give a rat about bear, lamb or frog anymore) but would also be discontinued by the company and never created again.
lovely.
we realized this was a problem a few weeks ago when, at lainey’s designated naptime i began searching for puppy only to be told by brett that he sprayed oxyclean on the ear (she sucks on it) because it stunk and it was soaking in the laundry tub. a half hour of crying later, we gave in and let her stay up.
consequently, i set out to order another one. that’s when i found that jaag’s plush wrap n’ nap yellow lab is over…discontinued…dead. site after site…’no longer available.’ i thought it was a done deal until kelly made it her life’s mission to find that stupid dog and, if you know kelly, if she wants it, she’ll get it. (hello? four years, two invitros and a beautiful baby girl later? that’s what i’m talking about.) so, we now have two pups, but the new one still has some gettin’ dirty to do before the stench and ratty-tattyness is up to her standards.
enter exhibit a: old puppy
and b: new puppy
however, washings are still a problem. being that she chews on puppy’s ear (only the right one) all the time and it daily smells like things i won’t say, washings are becoming more frequent, and it’s like a scene from mission impossible when we decide to go through with it. there’s distraction, whispering, sneaking around, cover-ups, and then the whole issue of timing…puppy washings can only happen after first nap but before second nap or after second nap but before bedtime. half the time, it’s a failed mission and ends with her standing at the washer, crying anyway.
i swear, that puppy is alive to her and seeing us put that blanket in the washer causes trauma equivilent with a child watching oh, i don’t know…the family dog swirling around in a vortex of suds.
today, i tried but her rescue mission was successful and pups will have to go another dirty, stinky day.
p.s. knowing full well many think attachment to a lovie of this degree is a sure sign it needs to go, i stand by my belief that lovies are a beautiful thing, instilling security and friendship in little ones who need it. and, for the record…all babies need security and friendship.
oh, and the verdict is in: poop comment stands.
…enjoying the i-don’t-want-to-forget-one-little-thing things.
I read once that the two primary needs of children are security and significance. You certainly provide two scoops of both for Lainey…and Lily too. How far they will reach from this great foundation only the skies will know. Great post. Great perspective. Great pictures.
pictures of ordinary life are my fave.
this is the stuff you’ll cherish and remember.
Maybe you should fold up one of those puppies, place it in a box, seal it securely, print in clear lettering, WALL STREET, call FedEx for a stat pick up and pray it will have the same effect on frightened investors it has on Lainey Love. We can only hope.
Oh I love it! I love how much she loves her doggie:) I need to get Skye something like that! You need to help me find something she loves like that and helps her feel safe and secure. I love the post and I am a mom who would talk about poop or blankets or anything about a baby for HOURS! I am obsessed.
When Beth flushed James’ blanket down the toilet (oh yes she did), we thought it was all over. Aunt Heidi found the same one ALREADY BROKEN IN at a resale shop, bless that girl.
I love it that now she carries both of them….I was thinking you could wash one while she held the other, but…now she must just feel as though she has extra responsibility 🙂 Love it.
Love her little bangs too!
OK…seriously had a huge, gut busting laugh-out-loud at both pictures of the two contrasting puppies.
Puppy A says:
“I am SOOO the Kingpin here, I know all about Lainey and what make her tick. Without me, her parents are desperate and Lainey will let them know just how much. I make this house tick. I scoff at imitations”
Puppy B says:
“I am new, I am spiffy, I am perky…and I have no idea what I am in for in this house”
I love security lovies. They comfort our sweet babies when we can’t, because we are vigilantly teaching them that the world is OK and safe, even if we are just a living room away.
Jordan’s lovie was a handmade blanket I picked up at a craft fair in Canada, of all places. No replicas. He sucked it, and we washed it daily.
He loved that blanket for 4 straight years. He called it “Special”.
At Jordan’s first dentist appointment, the Dr. convinced him to trade Special in for a second trip to the treasure box.
Jordan took the deal, and he never looked back. I am still in awe that this happened.
Special is still in his closet, on the very top shelf.
I love that piece of fabric, more than I can say.
Love you and Lainey…and Puppy, too.
xoxo
jc
I’m so serious Kelle, you NEED to write a book. This was so so so funny! You have more talent then you realize, in so many areas! I love reading your stories!
This comment has been removed by the author.
i love babies with lovies. she’s so sweet.
jonah has his thumb. he also has to have a cotton receiving blanket, not flannel, but cotton. he doesn’t care which specific one, but it has to be a soft t-shirty cotton one.
I love this story. This is what blogs are for.
Anyway, my brother had blue bear. It was a cut out front and back of a tiny blue bear that was stuffed and sewn together. She made several dozen and eventually the pattern was discontinued so she embroidered the face back on that bear and made him a tiny t shirt to hold his insides in.
And then blue bear was lost and after several traumatic attempts at a replacement, Travis was weaned.
We were moving, years later, and she found blue bear. She held onto that bear for a more than a decade and framed it with a sign that reads “In case of emergency, break glass” and gave it to him for high school graduation.
LOOOONGGGG post. I think lovies rock and hope bug has one.
And, sorry for my incorrect accusation about the commenting! geez. But I did miss your thoughts even though it had been only one post. heh.
i love stories of lovies.
stella…not so much when she was little. but now sleeps with 3 puppies and 3 bear-ies. and they are all these miniture stuffed animals. tiny. i finally have convinced her to roll them up in another blanket to keep track of them during the night.
cora…has two blankies. her purple one and a smaller taggie type blankie…and i have doubles of both.
although, i never let all multiples out at the same time. i try to be tricky that way.
I love that picture of her in the moses basket! I can NOT believe that is her!! I keep staring at it in amazement!
The picture of the dog in the washing machine is classic! I think that’s the only break the dog gets all day! Especially the right ear! (aka the left ear from our vantage point)
PS I STILL can’t sleep w/o my lovie every night!!
These pictures and stories are soooo special, priceless, and so happily safe and secure in ‘blogland.’ I know that feels good.
Puppy in the washer is soooo cute. Lainey on her tippy toes is precious. I love little kids and what they feel is sooo important.
I remember when a simple, tattered lavendar receiving blanket could calm my fears and make ALL my trouble go away.
loving lainey all the things that make her ‘tick.’ xoxoxo
I don’t know if anyone will ever get to this comment 3 years post-hence, but my little sister is now 31 and all anyone who knew ‘him’ then has to say is, ‘Smelly Elly’ and we all smile with nostalgia and wrinkle our noses 😉 Smelly Elly was this toddler-handful of stuffed-pillow mini-elephant that she held in her thumb-sucking hand just about all of the time. Elephant + toddler-drool= one very smelly Elly 😛 And of course when my mom finally found a pattern for an Elly-double he was never loved quite as much as the original.
Guess how I found your blog? By searching for a replacement for my daughters Jaag plush lamb blankie. We only have one and it’s getting pretty worn out so I decided to try and get another one. 2 hours later I’ve discovered not even ebay has one and seeing they were discontinued in 2008, I think I’m doomed to endure endless screams in Lambie ever goes missing.
When you found the dog version, did they have any lambs available?
Like Tara Luther, I too found your blog trying to find these irreplaceable blankets. My two older kids each have two of them. We have the lamb, beagle, bear and yellow lab. I have been looking for years for replacements and even called Jaag Plush to find out they don’t make them anymore! My mother-in-law bought the lamb for my daughter in Alaska back in 2006. She loved it so much, like you I hunted down another online and then when my son was born, I found two more. They are no longer allowed to leave the house in fear they might get lost. I’m glad someone else out there can relate!
I guess you could say that, yeah. The dogs do tear some people up in this one, too.
Bulldog Puppies