Theodore loves his blankie so much. It's always so funny to see what the babies decide to get attached to. Abe had White Bear. Seb had his monkey(s) Brownie. Malachi had his Birdie, Daisy has her blankie (versions I and II), Junie…has had several animals and blankets she likes, but I guess Oinker is her favorite. Goldie has Taggie. And Teddy has this soft little blankie.
It's not the sort of blankie I would have ever bought myself! It's a soft, expensive blue velvet-and-satin blanket that someone gave me at a shower when Abraham was just a baby. I used it for his baby blessing, and then put it away in my cedar chest because it was too nice for everyday use! Then I got it out on Seb and Ky's blessing days too, but when I went to put it away after using it for Teddy's blessing I thought, "What am I saving this for? I've used it four times in twelve years. What a waste!"…so I went ahead and put it in with Teddy in his crib.
And it became His Blankie. He carries it everywhere, and every night at bedtime a mad cry of "Has anyone seen Blankie? Where's Teddy's blankie?" can be heard throughout the house. Accompanied, when the blankie isn't quickly located, by sighs of frustration—because, of course, we know it could be literally ANYWHERE.
And of course, as any mother of a Blankie-lover can tell you, eventually he loved it literally to pieces. The velvet side ripped right down the middle, and then suddenly—I really don't know how this happened, but something about the velvet seemed to encourage it—there were Blankie Scraps. Everywhere!
This was the point at which my mom threw MY blankie out (I'm still not over it), but I just couldn't bear to do that! And each blankie scrap seemed just as precious to him as the whole blankie. I have thrown a few out. But only the very, very tiny ones.
I tried to get him a replacement blankie for Christmas (a smaller one—hoping it wouldn't be dragged around so much), but of course I couldn't find the same exact kind, and of course he KNEW it wasn't the same. Every time I try to give him the other blankie, he just says brusquely, "No, don't yike that one."
On the plus side, it does seem that any part of the blankie can substitute for the whole (yes, I know what you're thinking: just like the literary device of synecdoche!). If we can't find the main blankie, a blankie scrap will do. I keep them stashed around in strategic places like my purse and the car, just in case. Teddy calls them "bwankie-caps" and seems to have accepted their existence philosophically and without dismay. And it's really cute to hear him saying to Goldie in their room at night, "Mar-gold, can you find my bwankie-cap?"
Ideally, he likes to hold a blankie scrap tucked tightly in one hand, feeling the velvet with his fingers; with his thumb out for sucking. Then the main body of the blankie in his other hand, up near his face and under his nose. If no blankie scrap is available, he likes to feel the poor deteriorating ragged velvet edge of his blankie, but that's rapidly fraying all the way off, I'm afraid. And if the blankie proper isn't available, as I've said, a blankie scrap (even a tiny one!) will suffice.
He's such a funny little monkey! We love him! And his bwankie-caps!
I love blankie in the blender (?). So great. I remember one of my nieces having tiny balled up scraps of her blankie. She'd also carry them in her fist with her thumb in her mouth. For some reason every one of my kids have had precious can't-sleep-without blankies. Occasionally it has been some odd blanket that I wouldn't have chosen exactly, just one that happened to be around and was the size or softness to have me continually putting it in them in their cribs until, accidentally, they became utterly attached. All but Abe and Daisy still sleep with theirs. And they just keep them folded up in their closets. Daisy's is pretty torn to shreds, but she kept it in a small pile next to her pillow once it got bad before it turned to scraps like Teddy's. They all have a variety of stuffed animals they love, but only Jesse had a sock monkey he wouldn't sleep without. A terrible material for a beloved stuffed animal! Forever falling apart and not easily sewn!
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