The Dog

"Just what is it about a lovey that's so appealing to kids? Usually, the lovey is a first stuffed animal or a blanket from the crib, so the child connects the lovey with feeling safe and comfortable," says Charlotte Reznick, Ph.D., a child educational psychologist and associate clinical professor emeritus at UCLA.

Colton's "lovey" is his blue/white dog that we have had since before he was born. The dog is lovingly named...wait for it...dog! I had no idea, the day I placed that dog in Colton's bed oh so many months - going on a year ago, that he was going to love it as much as he does.

Dog lost his ear a few weeks ago (well, it was hanging on by one string and losing stuffing). Thankfully, he has an awesome Mimi who sewed it back on. The strings are coming out of his feet and he is stained with chocolate milk, watermelon, snot, vitamin drops and love. Over the past month or so, the attachment that Colton has with his dog has gotten stronger and stronger. He used to just want it at bed time but now, he wants it all day long.

I bought another dog, the exact same as "dog". Same brand, same color, same everything. I tried to make a swap but he totally called me out on it. Finally, he has started carrying the backup dog around from time to time (maybe it's starting to grow on him?). So - we do have a back up in the case that dog totally bites the dust or gets lost, but it's going to be a very bad day when that happens!!!

Tonight, as I was running Colton's bath water, he decided to drop dog in the toilet. He shut the lid and said "uh-oh". I'm thankful that he didn't flush. But, here it is, almost bed time and dog is in the toilet. I ran and put him in the washer while I gave C his bath. As soon as he was out of the bath he says "dog, dog, dog, dog. where dog? momma dog. where dog?". I knew we were going to have to wait for dog to dry before we could even think about bedtime.

All is right with the world - dog is snuggled in for the night in bed with Colton, right where he belongs.