Spread the Lovey!

I wrote this post after a friend wanted me to test out one of her favorite loveys by Baby Jack & Co, but it didn't work out to get one to me in time for today's focus on military families. Despite the fact that I realized they're a Wisconsin company (I kid, I kid), these things look adorable and come in a variety of colors and themes including an American flag one. Though it didn't work out for me to get one in time to post about it today, Myra loves her lovey so much I wanted to hit Publish on this one anyway.  In an effort to help #SpreadTheLovey (helping get these loveys to littles who may have an extra need for a security item, click link for more info on this campaign), TheBabyGuyNYC is doing a giveaway today!  Click the link to get to his Facebook page for more info and to enter.  Also, Baby Jack & Co. is donating a % of all their proceeds from today through Monday to The Carrying On Project, a favorite non-profit of mine.  They help get baby carriers to military families in need, whether it be a spouse who needs to free up her hands while a service member is deployed, an injured service member needing a way to hold his/her child, or providing a way to nurture the parent/child bond in a world with many periods of separation.

Anyone who has spent 10 minutes with us knows how attached Myra is to "Baby."  While we do have a few boundaries with her (Baby doesn't go to school or the library), Baby pretty much goes everywhere.  The combination of Myra being a thumb sucker and having a lovey has made my life so much easier.  More importantly, Baby is by far the number one way to comfort Myra.  If she wakes up in the middle of the night, no matter the reason, our first instinct is to say "where's Baby? do you need Baby? let's get your Baby!"  I kid you not, we regretted not including Baby in our holiday card photo last year because she is that much a part of our family.  I have a photo of Baby ready to be printed next time I order prints so I can put it in a frame for Myra.  Especially considering the added amount of pain and illness Myra has gone through due to her FPIES, Baby sure has come in handy.  Note: we actually have a rotation of 3 babies so we will hopefully never be without her.

Evidence:

Myra rubs Baby's hair between her fingers while sucking her thumb as she falls asleep

Needless to say, I sure hope Niko finds a lovey to provide him the same amount of comfort.  The most stressful (downright scary!) part of having a lovey like Baby is the fear of losing it and/or the fear that we won't be able to replace it (the reason I bought two extras for Myra).  I actually got a lovey for Niko, a MN Gophers lovey from a friend's shop, but Myra stole it and insists on sleeping with her "Go Gopher," too.

While we haven't had a deployment since becoming parents, we have had to say goodbye to Trevor often for as long as 3+ weeks which is a long time for small kiddos!  Whether the need for comfort comes from simply missing Daddy or the need for Mommy to divide time while solo parenting (surprisingly, I can't do everything all at the same time), I have found comfort knowing Myra has the tools to soothe herself.  To be honest, it gives Trevor something to talk about with Myra while he is away and upon his return.  She's too little to tell him what happened two weeks ago, but she will talk about things she has done with her baby all day long.  I love being able to bring a comforting piece of home with us when we travel (which we do as much as possible with two small children).  Again, I would love for Niko to have all of this, too.  While it does make sense to treat Myra's security object as a part of our family since it's a stuffed person, I think any security object could do the same.  We could just as easily recognize a blanket, pillow, or sensory taggie as Niko's BFF (pet rocks, anyone??).