Little Friend

Jon and Susan gave each of our kids a wonderful stuffed animal when they were born, and soon thereafter I bought a duplicate of each one, in case one was ever lost. When the girls got older and realized they each had two special guys, they wanted to have both to play with. But Little Man, for whatever reason, never really formed an attachment to his bear, Bumby. And somewhere along the way, his second Bumby was lost. But he never really seemed to mind or even notice.

Then last August, Little Man had that orthodontic device placed in his mouth, to keep him from sucking his fingers. And all of a sudden, he couldn't soothe himself the way he had since he was a baby. And who did he turn to, when he was in his big-boy bedroom all by himself at night, with no fingers to suck? Bumby. So at the ripe old age of 9.5, he became extremely attached to Bumby.

A month or so ago, he became really disturbed at the fact that he didn't have a second special guy, like the girls did. So I searched the internet high and low to find one -- which, of course, isn't made anymore. But thanks to Ebay, within a few days we had a second Bumby in Little Man's arms.

He was promptly named Fizzy, and Little Man is rarely seen now without both Bumby and Fizzy. Little Man plays very elaborate, imaginative games with them, and sleeps holding onto them both tightly. I just love it.

Fizzy is currently a lot fluffier and softer than Bumby, but it's only a matter of time before he's equally worn from love.