Little Teddy!

Alex is attached to the most obnoxious stuffed animal we have in the house- a large grinning baboon that is literally bigger than he is.  He likes to snuggle with it in his crib while sleeping, and I fear that the freakish size of this monkey is on the verge of warping his mattress and/or disrupting the very foundation of our home.  He calls this monkey "mumma" which is a little too close to "mama" for my liking.  Yet I'll admit the similar names work out to my advantage.  Sometimes, when Alex calls out in the night, I don't bother to get up for him because I assume he's wailing for mumma and not mama. That's what I tell myself when I roll over, stick my head under my pillow, and get back to dreaming of watching Bradley Cooper eat soup.

When Andy was Alex's age, he had his blankies.  Not one blanky- but seven blankies.  I thought by now Andy would have outgrown carrying a literal pile of blankies around the house, but I also thought that by this time, I surely would have gotten around to taking him to the dentist.  That particular item still ranks pretty low on my "Things I Should Probably Get Done" list.  Don't worry- I'll get to it.  Andy still carries around his blankies and is extremely particular about them.  If he piles his blankies next to him on the couch, he will warn me not to sit on them by accident.  He likes his blankies "cold," and if they get too warmed up by his body heat, he will take care to just leave them in said pile until they cool down to his liking.  At night, his blankies must go in another pile on top of his comforter near the foot of the bed.  I assume this is so they stay cold throughout the night, so that when he is finally ready to cuddle with them, they will be at the exact perfect temperature.  

Andy has also developed a more normal attachment than his collection of blankies.  Over the last three or four months, he has fallen in love with Little Teddy, his littlest teddy bear, and has basically taken him on as an adopted son or a best friend or a less sloppy little brother. Little Teddy goes everywhere we go.  Little Teddy has lately taken to waiting in Andy's locker at school and has also had the pleasure of sitting in on some library story times.  He has joined in on play dates, come inside to restaurants, and Andy has even raised the case that Little Teddy should probably be buckled into his own car seat.  Get a job and make some money, Andy, and then we'll see.  Little Teddy gets his own seat at the kitchen table, and, perhaps the sweetest gesture of all, Little Teddy also gets put down almost daily for his own naps during Alex's nap time and Andy's "quiet time."

The other day, Little Teddy was talking a nap on my favorite part of the sectional, that sweet, comfy corner spot that's aimed right at the television and has the handy drink/iPad/telephone/string cheese table right behind it.  Thoughtlessly, I started to move Little Teddy so that I could sit down next to Andy and watch a show with him, but Andy just about freaked out.  "Don't touch him!"  Andy whisper-yelled.  "He's sleeping!" Then Andy did that thing where he shushes me by putting his finger to his lips- only he doesn't really get where his finger is supposed to go and just kind of sticks it in the general area of his nose and lower forehead.  "Shh!"

"Can I move Little Teddy?"  I whispered back.

"No," Andy replied.  "But you can sit there."  And he gestured generously toward the other, less cozy part of the couch on the far end, just past where his pile of blankies were cooling.  "But don't sit on my blankies."

And so I wedged myself in the distant corner and tried to juggle my soda, sting cheese, and iPad in my cramped little seat.  Over past the blanky pile, Andy sat quietly next to Little Teddy and occasionally adjusted his blanky.  My heart melts a little at Andy and his Little Teddy, at the way he takes care of his favorite bear, at how sometimes he checks his temperature with the Fisher Price thermometer and always remembers to position him so that Little Teddy can take in as much of his surroundings as possible.  Andy doesn't know it yet, but he's rehearsing for an important role for his future.  And that role is Assistant Director at the local Teddy Bear Kennel.