Colton's Lovie

Every year at the start of the school year, I ask my students to bring in a "me bag."  They are instructed to put 5-7 meaningful items inside the bag.  Of course, I always pay attention to their bag presentations, but the year I was pregnant with Colton, these bags took on special significance for me.  I would watch their items and always wonder what my little child (at that point, I didn't yet know if he was actually a he) would bring one day to show his classmates. 

The item of main interest to me was a small blanket/stuffed animal combination that the children would refer to as their "lovie."  In turn, each of them would explain to me how they had slept with theirs since they were babies and continue to do so to this day.  Well, I was sold...my future child wold have to have a lovie.  Lucky for me, Colton received quite a few potential lovies as presents.

When he first got home from the hospital, I plucked one from his basket of toys to put in his bassinet with him...Colton didn't even notice its existence (in all fairness, he didn't notice much in those early days!).  A few months later, he started going to the babysitter's house, and she gave him one of her lovies to take his naps with.  She reported he seemed to like it, so we tried another lovie we had at home.  He would grab at it as he fell asleep, but by morning, it was usually pushed aside.  Since then, though, we have kept the lovie in his crib with him, more as a place to store it than anything else. 

Well, a few nights ago, Josh and I put him to bed like we do every night.  Usually, Colton is asleep within a few minutes and we don't hear from him for the rest of the night.  On this particular night, though, baby boy erupted into screams about 45 minutes after being put down.  Josh rushed back to his room to see what was wrong.  It was there he saw a most pathetic sight: Colton was standing in his crib, crying hysterically, staring longingly at a white object laying on the ground below his crib...his lovie.  Josh picked it up for him, picked him up, and within seconds he stopped crying.  He put him into bed with the lovie.  Colton smiled and fell fast asleep. 

My little boy officially has a lovie.  I don't know why I find this so darn cute, but I do.  He now carries it with him whenever he first wakes up.  It's his first love (besides his mom, dad, and doggy obviously), and to me further proof that my little boy is navigating his way through this big world.

Colton, sleeping soundly with his lovie close by