Lovie

A few weeks ago, the doctor said that sometimes babies need to tell an inanimate object about their days. She's crazy... or so I thought. Each night, no matter how tired, fussy, or seemingly asleep Andrew is, he has a long conversation with Lovie. Can you blame him for wanting to talk to his best friend? Absolutely not!

Poor Andrew. He has to be a big boy all day. He takes naps, eats solids, and plays with "big kids" at Miss May's all alone. Oh, if only his Lovie could be there.

Poor Lovie. His best friend, Andrew, spends all day "at work" being a "big boy" at Miss May's. He waits patiently for his Andrew to return home to their crib. What a boring life. Lovie is such a dedicated best friend that he doesn't care.

So, when bedtime rolls around, Andrew perks up the second he nuzzles Lovie. (He does this even if he falls asleep on my shoulder or if he's been screaming from being overtired.) It's like he forgot that Lovie was waiting. When he remembers, the day's events flood his mind and overwhelm him.

Chris and I anxiously sit down in the living room waiting to hear if Andrew will gently fall to sleep or cry for a bit. Neither happens. Instead, we hear a small voice recounting his day to his best friend. With strings of D-da-da-da's and th-tha-tha's, Andrew shares each detail of his busy day with Miss May.

We giggle as we translate his baby talk,and we think it goes something like this... "And then, I met these 2-year-olds. Yeah, I know 2-year-olds are so old. After that, I had apple sauce mixed with cereal. No, I'm not a baby anymore... Lovie, I even hold my own bottle. Dude, it's wild over there. It's a whole other ball game. I wish you could see it... By the way, I'm real sorry about what I did to your ear. I'm still getting used to this tooth. It's kinda sharp."

Holy crap. I have a 7 month old. It hits me sometimes, and I still don't understand. A student I had last year, who is now in first grade, said to me, "Mrs. Shacklett, how's baby Andrew?" I was surprised that this 6-year-old remembered his name after an entire summer and equally delighted to have an excuse to talk about him in front of a captive audience. I replied, "He's fabulous and getting so big. Thank you for asking." With a sweet head tilt and in front of that captive audience, she says,"So, is he big enough to come to school then? 'Cause last year you said that when Andrew got bigger he would come to visit. Is he coming during our library day?"

Crap. They remembered. They all remembered. I guess Andrew will be making a visit to P-wood sooner rather than later.

:)

Anne