Lovies, Sofie and Such

The fact that my baby boy got his drivers license today made me stop and reflect a little about when my little ones were just tiny tots. I'll have to say I had some cute babies I did!!! LOL! When my daughter was 6 months old we bought her a blue bear for Christmas. There was nothing special about "Blue Blair" (Blue Bear). For months he said sadly on a shelf in her room until she finally noticed him and they became Inseparable!!! We did not leave the house with out Blue Blair. We did not go to bed without Blue Blair. He was as much a part of the family as she was and we protected him as carefully as we protected her.  As he began to age, we became increasingly afraid that something devastating would happen and he would be lost. He had been washed so many times his clothes were in tatters. We searched high and low for a replacement "just in case", but by that time a duplicate of this generic toy was no where to be found. So we were on high alert at all times to his whereabouts and his conditions. The time finally came where we noticed that another trip through the washing machine was out of question. Every night she slept peacefully with her sweet little arms around him. We used to tease her that when she left home we would not allow her to take him. But sure enough as she packed for college, Blue Blair was right at the top of her suitcase. She wasn't going to allow him to miss out on a college experience for anything in the world. She snuggled up with him in her sorority bed along with all the other girls who brought their lovies and blankies with them to college. We feared that Blue Blair had left home for good. We were sad when we learned that Blue Blair would not be allowed to go with her to boot camp.... but then again we were slightly relieved. When she graduated from boot camp he traveled with us for the celebration and for his final loving. He then took up a distinguished place on my husband's dresser where he is only moved during my weekly dusting.

I was never able to get my  middle child to slow
down enough to look at a lovie much less bond
with a lovie. I did try forcing a couple on him during his early years with no success. I'm sure
he will totally add the lack of lovie to his
middle child syndrome he so proudly proclaims
every once in a while. I just grin and tell him
to put it in his therapist file. I will say
however, that even without a lovie he was an
adorable child who needed nothing more than
his alarming smile to melt your heart. As a
matter of fact he is still that way and I wouldn't
change him for lovie of any size or shape. My youngest, as the others will tell you had a massive amount of toys. Contrary to their "He's the favored child" accusations (LOL) he was simply the baby of the family. The baby of the family did have it made in the shade with lemonade, simply because he came along at a time when we were more established, and had a larger amount of disposable income. This, along with the fact that we were just too tired to play with him ourselves so we bought him a massive amount of toys to keep him occupied (come on guys... I'm not serious, of course we played with him). He was the only of the three children who would actually play with toys. The older ones would drag them out but they never actually played with them. Them may have beaten each other with them, but playing didn't seem to be an option. Out of his massive collection of meticulously organized toys (can someone say OCD at a VERY early age?), he did have one lovie. He was born at the peek of the Beanie Baby syndrome. I have no idea who bought it, or when we bought it

but somewhere along the way he attached himself to "Redbull" (said really fast in one word. He liked Redbull because he was "sofie" (which was just too cute to hear him say). Just like Blue Blair it finally reached a point where we begin to fear losing Redbull.  We again kept an eye out for a replacement... Just in case something happened. My husband came along a large Redbull in an airport which he quickly snatched up and we found a miniature one that we put in holding. Redbull's attachment didn't last as long as Blue Blair's, but still he  became a part of our family and has since been retired to my husband's dresser along with Blue Blair and array of pictures of the past and present. It's funny how your kids (and sometimes we adults ("kitty", "smooshie") can become dependent  on the comfort of something soft and cuddly. It's also strangely comforting how just the sight or memory of those things can bring you comfort and a smile years and years later. It's good to have a lovie, a sofie or such to remind you of old times, good times, sweet times..... Oh, the memories