Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Beddy Bear the Teddy Bear came into our lives before Monroe was even born--he was knitted as a shower gift by Monroe's Grandmama Nancy in Mansfield, TX. Eben and I loved the look and feel of this charming little guy.

Monroe liked Beddy Bear from the beginning, but as with many friendships, the true bonding came only with shared hardship. When Monroe was nearly 1-year-old and her frazzled parents decided they couldn't go on with their lives without getting more uninterrupted sleep, Monroe conquered a big challenge: she to learned to sleep all the way through the night all by herself. She adapted incredibly quickly, but there were two hard nights as she made the transition from being rocked and cuddled to going to sleep (and staying asleep) on her own. Beddy Bear was her companion and came through the first night soaked in tears. Their relationship cemented in that difficult hour and they've been special friends every since.

When Monroe started daycare in September Beddy Bear was her companion through yet another transition. He makes the journey to Parviz's every day and joins Monroe on her cot at naptime to provide that little touch of home comfort. What a blessing he's been!!

The only downside to having your baby choose such a charming, hand-made toy for a security blanket is the TERROR of loosing him! The sense that Beddy Bear was literally irreplaceable made me understandably nervous about travel, transit and laundry. I used to put off washing Beddy Bear until he smelled strongly of yogurt. Then I'd get up at 6:30 am on a hot sunny day and give him a soak in Woolite. I had to get him on the line right away so that he'd be dry by bedtime!!

These concerns in the back of my mind meant no one (not even Monroe) was more delighted than me when, on Christmas morning 2008, Monroe got ANOTHER hand-knit bear of the same design! She latched on to the new bear instantly, showing full recognition of her nighttime pal.

Despite her open-heartedness towards the new bear, there were some subtle differences. Beddy Bear the Teddy Bear has a wry oval face and chunky, somewhat masculine features. The new bear had a rounded face, little button ears, full flirty lips and darling eyelashes that all created the unmistakable air of a GIRL bear, where Beddy Bear (despite the lace collar and red manicure) had always been referred to as "he" by our whole family (we decided he's just very very secure in his stuffed-toy masculinity.) So the new bear became Bettie Bear, a fitting name that had the fantastic advantage of sounding exactly like Beddy Bear so that we could continue the ruse of interchangeability.

We went from bounty to luxury when, in the lull between Christmas and New Year's, Grandmama made us yet ANOTHER knitted bear. This bear also seems to be female, and her most notable feature is... well, it's her fairly ample bear bottom. The curvaceous new comer was instantly christened Booty Bear and joined our happy band.

It was around this time that Monroe's language explosion began and she soon coined the term "Bo Bo," which conveniently can stand for all three of her knit companions. The lot of us live quite comfortably now. There is always one bobo in the diaper bag ready to go to and from daycare, and there is another bobo in the crib ready to snuggle all night. The third bobo rests like a fallow field, gathering cuddliness for when he is put back into rotation. When any of the bobos begin to smell of yogurt, the resting bobo comes off the bench so the stinky bobo can be washed and dried. Then the freshly cleaned bobo can go on reserve and get some time off. The bobos don't need to be washed nearly as often under this system of 1/2 time use, and because of the bonus bobo I have days and days to get around to it when washing IS needed.

This photo was staged for cuteness.
Because of course I never wash all bobos at the same time!

The only downside to the whole system is the potential for what we call a D.B.B.S! or "double bobo situation." Our ease hinges on the complete interchangibility of bears, so we don't like to parade the fact that there are in fact three distinct bobos in front of Monroe. Occasionally, if mama and dada cross-signals in the bedtime routine, sleepy Monroe will carry a bobo to her room--where there is already a bobo in the crib. We notice right away, call D.B.B.S! and then retire the excess bobo before Monroe catches on.