Fickle

I always thought that loveys were a consistent thing for toddlers. Everything I ever read said that a child will attach to this one thing and you better have back-ups in case one should ever be lost. Which is why I was surprised that Linus never attached to anything.

Eventually, I just decided that his "lovey" was his thumb and I felt lucky. I mean, his thumb can never be lost, misplaced, or even tossed onto the floor outside the crib. On this issue as with many parenting scenarios, I was wrong.

Linus does indeed have a lovey. The trick is figuring out which one it is on any given day.

Tonight, Linus, a usually fantastic sleeper, spent an hour and a half screaming in his crib. His daddy tried rocking, snuggling, assuring, and even crying it out and nothing seemed to help. He just kept screaming. Daddy even turned on a light worrying that he had developed a sudden fear of darkness. Daddy was doing his best to handle it.

Finally, I decided to go in and see what I could do. I usually am not the desired parent at night as the chorus of "Daddy gawk (rock)" makes abundantly clear. However, tonight I was the problem solver.

Upon entering I see a tear-streaked, red faced little boy. I begin probing and get a constant and repeated "Eee...". Um ok, don't know what that means, until all of the sudden I do.

If you ever ask Linus what a pirate says, he will respond, "Eee.." In his vocabulary challenged, distressed beyond sense way, Linus was trying to tell me that he wanted his pirate toy. A toy that until today had taken up space in his closet. Today it became the favorite so much that each pirate had to be kissed goodnight before bedtime.

Upon realizing what it was Linus was communicating, I was quickly able to solve the problem.

"You want one of your pirates?"

"Eee."

"If I give you one of your pirates in bed, will you lay down and go to sleep?"

"Eee." Linus collapses into his bed burrowing his head in his pillow.

I quietly reach over to the pirate ship, pick out a single plastic figurine, and hand it to him.

I haven't heard a peep since.