Bunny Gets Lost...and Then Comes Home!

I've heard from other moms that if your child develops a preference for a certain "lovey," you should be sure to buy a couple extras to have on hand in case of the unthinkable--that the lovey somehow goes missing and your child is inconsolable. Well, Brody never acquired a coveted object so I didn't have to worry about that then, but Leyton certainly has with his soft little Jellycat bunny that's been in his bed since he was a newborn.

I usually never let him bring it along with us anywhere, so I wasn't all that concerned about losing it. It pretty much just gets dragged around the house or stays in his crib. However, something went horribly wrong last weekend during Aunt Allyson's visit, and Bunny managed to get lost. I still don't know how it happened as we all saw him sitting on the kitchen island that afternoon. But when bedtime came, Bunny was nowhere to be found. At first I was certain that big brother had hidden him somewhere, but it soon became clear that wasn't the case. And the poor little L was a basket case when I put him to bed that night. He cried and cried for his bunny. I tried offering him all sorts of other stuffed animals, but it was Bunny he wanted. So finally I told him that Bunny was in the washing machine (he'd been in there before) and that worked to get him to go to sleep. Leyton really took the whole thing like a champ. As the days went by, he continued to ask for him but didn't shed another tear. In the meantime, I frantically started the search on Amazon for a new Bunny. Thankfully, we found one, and he arrived today! After a few days of saying that Bunny was in the washing machine, we switched our tactic to telling Leyton that Bunny was visiting Auntie Kelli in Texas and that he would be home soon. Leyton was thrilled to have him back this afternoon! He said to me, "I so happy. I so happy, Mama." I could have died!

Lesson Learned: one Bunny for upstairs, one Bunny for downstairs, and one for the car!!