Sleeping Companion

Meet Baby Bunny. My son named him (or her). He called it Baby Rabbit at first, but he finally settled on Baby Bunny. Maybe he likes the alliteration. Baby Bunny wasn't actually bought for my son; I bought Baby Bunny as a Happy 1st Birthday present for the daughter of a cast mate in Las Vegas. The daughter never received Baby Bunny, however; Brooklyn got to it first, and my germaphobe, which was pretty strong in those months of my own pregnancy, wouldn't allow me to give this precious little girl a toy contaminated with dog saliva, even after sponging it down thoroughly (Baby Bunny has since received a proper washing machine bath).

Baby Bunny is my son's new favorite cuddly toy. It actually may be his first toy to receive this consistent cuddly status - along the lines of Linus' blanket. He hugs the bunny and whispers to it, "I love you Baby Bunny," and then kisses its head. It is very cute, and very convenient for me, because it has helped me get le petit prince to sleep without too much fuss (and no nursing) as he clenches it close to his little body while he nods off. I love that he has a sleeping buddy - reminds me of my cousin and her stuffed bull, Ferdinand. Ferdinand's neck was so soft and so thin after years of child fingers wrapped around it. I still occasionally have to wretch Baby Bunny from Brooklyn's grasp - apparently Baby Bunny appeals to dogs as well as little boys. Baby Bunny wears a pink ribbon around its neck, relegating it to the girls' section of the store. But my son doesn't notice, and I don't care (although, out of social conditioning, I did consider for a quick second taking the ribbon off). I read somewhere, maybe another blog, that pink was originally viewed as a "male" color since it was a derivative of red, seen as a strong and powerful color. And blue was a "female" color for its calm, and because the Virgin Mary is often depicted as wearing blue.

Two nights ago, le petit prince slept for 8 hours straight! This has NEVER happened before - I think his babysitting playmate wore him out. Sure enough, as soon as I realized it had been a whole 8 hours of slumber, le petit prince woke up and searched for my chest to nurse. And painful as it was, I denied him access, which evoked the most miserable wailing (from me - KIDDING) for about 10 minutes, which felt like an hour to me. I hugged him and rocked him and consoled him the entire time. It was about 9am (not in the dark as I had feared). And soon enough he fell back asleep for another 2 hours or more. Last night, he woke up after about 6 hours of sleep, and touched my shirt but understood that there has been a change, so he didn't pursue it further, and he was still a bit fussy and bummed out, but he took his sippy cup of milk and fell back asleep holding it in his hand. I have to change the sheets and get a sippy cup that doesn't leak! As he was falling back asleep on my chest, and then on my stomach about an hour later, it hit me that this is really it, he won't be latched on to me anymore. And I got sad. Because I'm a wuss that way. And a bit dramatic. And a mom.