Meet Lion. Super creative name, I know. Lion is Lillian's most favorite lovie. (A "lovie" is something, can be a blanket or toy that you child chooses as a security blanket.) But Lion is not Lillian's only lovie. Let me give you a little back story.
When Lillian was a few months old my mom was feeding her when she noticed Lilly liked to hold something in her hand while she ate. My mom suggested we get her a blanket or the like. I had read in baby books about lovies and my sister (who is a pre school teacher and knowledgeable about all things kid related) told me it was a good idea to choose Lilly's lovie for her and then get several of them. I loved this plan especially since I'd had several encounters while working at Target that went like this:
guest: Excuse me. Do you still carry the baby doll that looks like this one but has brown hair and a purple shirt?
me: Oh, I'm sorry. We don't. That doll went clearance before the reset. This is the updated version of that doll.
guest: OMFG! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME? That was my baby/grandbaby/niece/nephew's favorite toy! He/She can't sleep without it and we lost it!!! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!!!!!
So I took my sister's good advice and went to Target and bought three (yep) pink elephant blankies which we dubbed Ellie. (Another creative name. I must be blowing you mind right now.) Ellie is one of those little blankets with an animal head on it that is soft on one side and silky on the other. Lilly loves anything silky so Ellie was a huge hit... until we went to Minnesota. Lilly's nana bought her a lion, at the thrift store no less, that was soft and silky. Now, Lilly had been attached to Ellie for several months at this point so I wasn't even thinking that this grimy little toy would come mess up my good plan. But of course life never goes the way you plan. Lion came home, cleaned up nicely and quickly kicked Ellie from the top lovie spot. NBD I thought. Lion is a Gund brand toy. I'll just go onto their website and order another. Nope. They sell a similar lion but it's the updated version and slightly different then Lilly's. Of course.
Thankfully, we haven't lost him (yet. I pray we never do!) and they have become BFF. Sometimes the cuteness is almost too much. Lilly as started to say things like "I love Lion." and (about lion) "We love eachother!"
So, my mothering advice to you: try to pre pick you child lovie and then, for the love of God, don't ever buy or accept anything that is even a little similar to it!
You're welcome.
♥
