When Jake was 8 mos. old, my friend Amy and I were shopping at New York & Co. and she grabbed a $5 stuffed teddy bear for her daughter, Finley. I thought, "Hey that is really cute and soft" and I grabbed one too. I am telling you, AS SOON as I handed it to Jake he held him out, looked him in the eyes and promptly ate his nose. Since then, Sal as we call him... has never left his side. He goes everywhere with us, and Jake has NEVER slept without him.
Amy's daughter Finley, played with hers for a few minutes, and discarded it like most stuffed animals are, to the bottom of the toy box. So, I took it (yes, I asked and offered to pay)
So, for the past 2 yrs we have had 2 Sal's that I switch between, if I can't find one @ the moment, or it has been left @ Mamaw's, to wash him, etc. Jake has never seen them @ the same time, we acted like they were one in the same. We did notice when we swapped them, that Jake would look him in the eyes, smell him, and then hug the stuffing out of him. He even called the fluffier one "Fat Sal", although we never acknowledged the difference.
The other night when Mike took Jake to bed he said, "Daddy, this is fat Sal!"
Mike said, "Jake-y, thats Sal, we don't call him fat!"
Jake explained, "Daddy, I have 2 Sal's. This is fat Sal!"
Mike questioned him, " Jake, you only have 1 Sal!"
Jake, "No! You silly Daddy!"
Mike, "Then where is your other Sal?"
Jake laughed and said, " Mommy has him Daddy! In your closet!"
We thought it was very funny, never mentioned it again. And most importantly gave him no evidence! So on Sunday when we were trying to get them down for naps, we couldn't find Sal, so we relented and got out "backup Sal". Jake followed the same pattern, look him in the eyes, smell him, kiss him, and went to sleep.
Fast Foward to this evening.....
"Jake-y!!!" Avery yelled..."Look, I found Sal!!!!"
Jake "Avey?" (that's how he says her name) "Sal's right here!"
"No Jake!!! Here he is!!" Run, Run, Run.. "Uh-Oh!!! MOM! Jake found BOTH SALS!!!!!"
When Mike walked in, Jake ran to him, both Sals in hand and said "See Daddy! I told you I had 2 Sals!!!!"
The infamous Sal!Oh well, the cats out of the bag (or bear, if you wish!). I hope Santa lasts longer! Do you think he'll notice the varying lengths of Santa's beard?
1 comment:
HILARIOUS! And I can so relate. Our 4 year old Emily fell in love with a blue monkey she got for Easter when she was one. As soon as I realized this monkey was "the one", I promptly went to Kohls and got two more "back-ups". Like you, we periodically switch them out. We lost one due to her taking him everywhere when she was younger. She didn't catch on until she was three and found #2 in the laundry room while she had #1. She was ecstatic!!!! She kept saying 2 monkeys! 2 monkeys! while hugging them. After a couple days we hid one again. We told Emily he went to "Magic Monkey Land". We still switch them out from time to time - Emily has learned that one has a hole in the arm - that's "mommy monkey" and "daddy monkey" doesn't have a hole. She still occasionally finds both of them and still gets very excited. However, she never gets upset when one disappears again - she'll just say oh mommy monkey (or daddy monkey) had to go back to magic monkey land for awhile. It's so sweet how attached they get - monkey really is her best friend. When she gets in trouble and gets sent to her room I hear her crying and telling monkey all about it.
I hope Jake doesn't catch on to Santa as quickly! By the way - I LOVE his hair!
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