Colton's Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day all!  I hope you all are sharing the day with the loves of your life.  Personally, I'm not a huge Valentine's person...at least not in the commercial sense of the holiday.  I really like the holiday as a day to take some time and think about all the people in my life that I love...obviously the hubby, but my boys, Chipper, parents, friends...you get the idea.  But I really don't want/need anything extravagant to do it...no really, no gifts necessary (we can save those for my birthday next month!)...just some time with my favorite boys, which is precisely what we have planned for tonight.
For awhile I have wanted to share with you the loves of Colton's life, and I figured there was no better day to do so than Valentine's.  I wish I could tell you that we, his family, were Colton's first and truest loves.  Alas, I unfortunately can't.  In fact, when asked if he loves us, he answers "no" (in fairness, he answers that to just about anything...I'm pretty sure he does actually love us!).
No, instead, Colton's loves are his animal family.  I'm sure most kids have one, or maybe even a couple, stuffed animals that they sleep with.  Not my boy...he has 5.

There's dog, and George, and Elmo, and giraffe, and last but certainly not least is lovey.
Over the almost 2 years of his life, Colton has formed an instant attachment to each of these friends.  I often wonder how/why he chooses them (he certainly has and plays with plenty of other stuffed animals too).
He obviously sleeps with them, but the relationships go much further than that.  Each of these animals has his own cherished place in Colton's bed (as you can see from the above picture...he did that arranging...takes after his OCD mom, huh?).  To say good night to Colton, we have to first say good night to each animal, sometimes more than once.  And when he wakes up in the morning, we have to greet the animals too.  They, then, promptly come out of bed with him and on to whatever/wherever he is heading...with my little guy clutching all 5 in his small, outstretched arms to the point where I wonder how he can see above them.
Josh thinks it's slightly ridiculous that he has so many, and even more ridiculous that he carries them around the house with him.  But I think it's sweet.  At an age where he really doesn't have human friends yet,*** it is really fun for me to watch him being such a good friend to his animal family.  It shows how loving he is, one of the many reasons he (and his brother) will forever be the only Valentines gifts I need.

***as I wrote this post, I kept thinking of a story that goes along with the theme and just had to share it with you. Some of you know that  Colton goes to school a couple days a week.  Well, when I took him last Tuesday, one of the other moms told me that her daughter had "been on the phone" with Colton all day Monday (read: she kept picking up the phone and saying "hello Colton").  Supposedly, she kept saying "no pulling hair Colton" as well, but the mom assures me this is because she hears it so much, not because Colton does it....hmmm, I don't know.  But I did think it was just about the cutest thing ever that this little girl would be calling my boy!

Happy Valentine's Day all...enjoy your day and the lovely people in it, no matter how you are spending it and who you are spending it with:)