One, Two and Daisy's One

Lilly has a blanket that she loves--I'm sure you've seen it in pictures. It usually appears stuffed in her mouth when she's asleep or when she has pulled it out of her crib because she's tired or has hurt herself. I made it for her when she was really little and we discovered that she loved playing with the labels on her swaddling blanket. Even when we were finished swaddling her, she'd take that blanket to bed and suck on the labels. So I made her a blanket with ribbon all around the edges, and she loved it. She used to only want it when she went to bed, and then it started being something we would take in the car and it would occupy her for ages. She loves all the different textures of ribbon and when I'd look in the rearview mirror, I'd see her turing the blanket around and around, looking at it from all angles, and playing with the different ribbons. As soon as I realized how important this blanket was to Lilly, I knew I had to make a backup one, in case something happened to this one. I made the backup blanket, which I actually liked much better. Her first one was getting grungy. No matter how many times I washed it, it seemed to have this smell. The new one was cleaner, newer and I used all the ribbons that I knew she loved from the first blanket. I was sure she was going to love it too.

Her first day with one and two, back in August 2010.

I couldn't have been more wrong. I mean, she liked the idea of another blanket, but only in addition to her first blanket. I washed the second one over and over again so it would seem worn...I let her carry it around everywhere so she knew it was hers, but Lilly was adamant that this was not her blanket. She was so adamant that she came up with names for her blankets. Her favorite blanket became "one" and this impostor became "two." If you tried to switch them on her, Lilly could tell the difference in a heartbeat. She'd say, "no, two," and was happy again only when one was in her hands. This has been the cause of many smiles between Jim and me. Firstly, because what toddler names their blankets one and two? No blanky, fluffy, taggie, nothing cute and babyish. Lilly has blankets that are referred to by their rank. They sound like military blankets. Secondly, we love that she is so particular about her one. We are seeing more and more signs that Lilly has opinions, some of which are pretty strong, believe it or not. Jim and I are her parents. And we may have an opinion or two of our own. Now, you might be thinking...Jim doesn't have strong opinions. I know, I know, it's hard to believe, but Jim does have a few opinions...especially concerning things like weddings, baby registries, arranging furniture, houses...actually, come to think of it, he has opinions concerning most things. So it's not really a shock to me that Lilly is opinionated.

Anyway, back to one and two. Well, about a month ago, Jim was going to put Lilly to bed and we couldn't find one. We looked everywhere and when I thought back over the course of the day, I realized that we may have dropped one when we were out. I panicked and Jim looked at me like I had 7 heads. My thought was, I have to get one back or Lilly is never going to sleep again. Jim's was more, It's a blanket. She'll get over it and be fine. So, while I went out on a wild goose chase retracing our steps taken earlier that day, Jim put Lil to bed with two. In this case (and only in this case), I think Jim may have been right. Lilly went to sleep, just like she always does, with her blanket stuffed in her mouth. Don't get me wrong; she knew that this was two. She sat there while Jim was reading to her saying, "oh no, one...oh no, one..." over and over again. But after her little memorial service for one, she decided that two was better than nothing and two became an acceptable blanket! Now, we can give her either one but I never give them both to her at the same time. She calls them both one and I think, has come to believe that there is just one blanket again.

Just in case you weren't confused before, I'm going to throw another blanket into the picture. Daisy's one. Mum and Dad gave Lilly a doll for Christmas, who despite Dad's best efforts to name Gloria, ended up being called Daisy (or as Lilly says, Didi). Mum had the idea to make Daisy a miniature one so that Lilly and her doll could have matching blankets. I made a little one and brought it down to Florida with us. Lilly loved both the doll and the little blanket. You can see Daisy's one over at the side...I don't have a great picture of it but it's pretty cute. She loved them so much that when we returned home, Jim and I noticed when we went in to check on Lil before we went to bed, she had Daisy's one stuffed in her mouth! It's perfect actually. It's like a little travel one and much easier to take in the car with us. It's been about a week now, so I have to say it's official. Daisy's one has been repossessed and Lilly's one has been replaced. She asks for it by name too, saying, "Didi's one?" when she's looking for it. I think it might be time to make a backup for Daisy's one. So there you have it. The story of one, two and Daisy's one. Here are a few pictures of Lil and one.

On the plane, flying to Austin. May 2010.

Hanging out on the couch. June 2010.

On a trip up to Boston. June 2010.

Going down to DC. August 2010.

Two takes over after we lost one! December 2010.

On the plane to Florida. Christmas 2010.

Florida, Christmas 2010.