Naomi the puppy (Or, the Non-Adventure of Hedgie)

Coordinating outfits, all in
the same picture!

Everyone has their thing, and especially 1-year-olds. For Kalina, it was always animals (preferably kittens or cows for the longest time). For Elise, we had the color purple. And now, for Naomi, we have dogs. Also known as woof-woofs and puppies.

What causes this phenomenon of latching on to something so specific at such a young age? It always happens between the ages of 1 and 2, and can make for some very unique second birthday parties.

Should Naomi really even know what a dog is, and what it says? In truth, she's an expert, as she'll gladly show you. She can find any doggy (or near-doggy, such as a goat or bunny) on any page of a book. She remembers which books have the best doggy pictures and will flip to her favorite pages. Naomi frequently mentions that doggies say "woof-woof." She perks up when she hears them outside, and emphatically points them out when we are lucky enough to actually see a real one. She walks around the house tuning into anything that looks like a dog (even a pattern in a pillow), and then points in the general direction of her crib to let us know that she, too, has a couple stuffed doggies. But perhaps most endearing of all, Naomi regularly gets down on all fours and crawls around woofing like a sweet little puppy. Once she pointed at herself, said woof-woof, then crawled around to demonstrate. She has also been known to do this with regards to bears (which kind of look like dogs, to a toddler). Cuteness overload.

Naomi really wanted to feed Poky
a bottle. Her own idea.

Over Thanksgiving, Naomi was particularly thankful to have a real, live dog visiting us! In our house! All the time! A dog to pet whenever she can get a hold of it--so long as the dog didn't get too annoyed and try to slip away unnoticed. In her defense, Naomi was actually a phenomenally gentle petter, something that I think surprised the dog as well as the rest of us.

The pooch in question was Poky, Aunt Nancy's sweet little doggie, and she endured Naomi's (soft) pats and the big sisters' constant willingness to help feed the dog very well. Actually, Poky may have wanted to go along a bit more with the big sisters' helpfulness, but was not allowed due to a recently discovered allergy.

Although Poky is, of course, a star in all our lives, when it comes to her dogs, Naomi is not picky and unafraid. She will toddle quickly up to a large, intimidating one as readily as a small yappy one. Will we have a puppy party for birthday number two, which is fortunately a long way off still? The big sisters are making predictions in that direction.

My two little Native
Americans and their
"Thankful Mayflower."

[As an aside, why do we teach our kids animal noises first? Why not U.S. presidents? (George Washington--white hair! See? Big white hair! Abraham Lincoln. Taallll. Any takers for president flashcards for 1-year-olds?) We fritter away some of their most receptive months burning brain cells on "oink oink" and "mooooo." It's cute--but at what price? Shouldn't Naomi be saying E=MC squared instead of "woof, woof" all the time? I mean, if it's all the same?

A librarian once informed the "babies and books" group that animal noises encourage early literacy. Unfortunately, Naomi doesn't actually speak "Farmyard," or "Jungle," for that matter. But I suppose from "Baaaa...." it's an easy leap to "Baaaach" and from "Mooooo..." to "Moooon." "Oink" still seems irrelevant, but we would hate for piggies to be left out, wouldn't we?]

In fact, I had recently been thinking that Naomi's beloved Hedgie was a bit of a misfit among the stuffed doggie toys Naomi had wrestled away from her big sisters, and the one she desperately covets but has not yet been able to secure--to the extent that Kalina is keeping that particular stuffie on a leash at all times.

Aunt Debbie and Uncle David
visited for Thanksgiving!

And then we had an adventure, or actually an un-adventure, that set me straight. It being close to the end of the calendar year, Matt is using up some of his generously apportioned "use-it-or-lose-it" vacation days to spend some quality holiday time with family, and get a few projects done, too. And so on Friday morning, he accomplished both by taking all three kiddos to Lowe's and Petco in the pouring rain (when you're Matt, those two stores go together: build a cage, but a pet in it, build a bigger cage, repeat--or something like that). In the meantime, I cleaned the girls' rooms reaaallllyyy well just in time for Christmas, a chore that works better without an audience.

The group arrived home, we had lunch and put Naomi down for a nap, at which point we realized that Hedgie was missing. While not as much as a tragedy as missing Pink Bear would be at this point (none of us would sleep), we were concerned. We grilled the big sisters, one of whom had a motive (Naomi had splashed fish water all over her), and learned that most likely Hedgie was lost at Petco. we called. I went out and searched, putting three store employees on the job, too. No luck. Had she been left in the cart? Tossed somewhere obscure in the store? Thrown out of the van just before the door closed? Kalina and I both bemoaned sweet little Hedgie lying wet and dirty in a parking lot somewhere, as I still can't shake the feeling that stuffed animals are alive, and she lives by the idea.

Kalina lost a tooth! On
Thanksgiving! The Tooth
Fairy brought her a $1 coin,
a tiny note and a sweet
tooth-fairy pillow she'd made
herself, because the Tooth
Fairy is just that amazing.

Fortunately, Naomi seemed content with her pups, and the big girls are really, really good at not saying words that are "triggers" for Naomi--things like "strawberries" and "outside." Mum was the word as far as Hedgie was concerned, and if we really needed to, we could refer to it as it's code name of "Bushpig," which Kalina enjoys doing anyway.

So, what to do? Do we hope Naomi will forget about the sweet toy that was her snuggle buddy for so many months? What about the picture displayed in our house of Naomi with Hedgie, that Naomi enjoys pointing to? What about long into the future when Naomi asks, "I really loved that hedgehog puppet. Where is that now?" Or worse, when she has to endure years of therapy as an adult because she was prematurely separated from her special lovey. No, thank you. We must track it down, in any way we can.

As luck would have it, my sister and I had discovered a nearly identical hedgehog puppet out when we were shopping during her visit. I dashed off to the store as fast as holiday parking could carry me. An hour later, I was nearing the front of the checkout line. This shinier, nicer-smelling, softer, slightly pointer-nosed version cost a small fortune, but I reasoned I would keep the tag on until we really needed it so I could return it (after the holidays) if Hedgie #1 turned up.

Elise and Pink Bear got married. This
was their wedding cake, including some
wedding treats that Pink Bear could eat,
so she could celebrate, too. Pink, of
course.

Naomi only seemed to want Hedgie at one point during the day, just before bedtime, at which time Matt explained to her that Hedgie was missing. I'm sure things wouldn't have gone well if I had been the one to break the news, but Naomi took it stoically and consented to go to sleep without it.

The next day Matt again scoured the parking lot and visited Petco, possibly as much to prove himself innocent of letting Hedgie get lost as out of love for his daughter. No Hedgie. Back at home, just as we were going out to get our Christmas tree, the moment we were waiting for actually happened: Elise accidentally said the magic name in front of Naomi. Naomi perked up, pointed, and screwed up her face in preparation for a wail. I knew the time had come: I grabbed Shiny Hedgie and snipped the tags, presenting the animal to Naomi with its characteristic prickle-effect fur first--after all, the nose really was a bit pointy.

Naomi and her Hedgie, together
again, kinda.

And what a reunion! Considering Naomi was actually doing okay up until that point, she sure  was thrilled to have her favorite stuffie back in her arms (and her mouth). And then she took a good look at Hedgie, particularly the pointy-ish nose, and then another look, and another hug, and another look, and fortunately accepted the toy as her own, with lots more hugs and cuddles. So much that we all waited a bit before loading her into the car because we didn't want to interrupt her sweet reunion.

Then, Matt went to put on his hat and found Hedgie #1 tucked safely inside. What?!? A mass of confusion followed as Kalina and I laughed, Elise gleefully tried to stuff Hedgie #1 into Naomi's arms, Naomi looked a bit bewildered ("I knew that nose was too pointy!") and Matt managed to get Hedgie #1 back into the hat and away before Naomi, at her tender young age, could really clue in. Kalina and I both agreed we had tears in our eyes when we realized sweet Hedgie #1 was safe at home.

Naomi fixing herself a snack.

All this begs the question: how in the world did Hedgie make it into Matt's hat? Matt certainly hadn't put it there and even Kalina can't imagine Hedgie alive enough to crawl in by herself. Our next query was directed at Elise--the younger of the two bigs, and the only one who'd had any kind of a motive around the time when Hedgie went missing. But it was not her, she insisted--and she would've admitted even a harsh truth. As Naomi couldn't have reached the hat on the shelf, there was only one person left to ask.

Me: Kalina, did you put Hedgie in the hat?
Kalina, smilling: Yes.

She even gets a bowl and puts
her snack in. All by herself.

An outright confession! But why??? She just bundled Hedgie into the hat--an explanation that makes perfect sense to those of us who get teary-eyed imagining stuffed critters, no matter how un-alive, in wet parking lots. That still left us wondering: why can a 6-year-old suggest to look in Lowe's and Petco, but not in the hat that she put the missing object into? She had simply forgotten. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the best one.

Since then, I have carefully explained to both big girls why it's very important Naomi never know that she has two Hedgies. Because what if one gets lost again? And because Mommy would go crazy taking care of twin Hedgies in addition to her other fluffy charges.

Meanwhile, Hedgie #1 will enjoy a good bath, and Shiny Hedgie is already on her way to becoming a little less shiny after being mouthed, grimed up during mealtime and dropped on the floor in public places. May we never lose either one again. Everybody is happy, duo-Hedgies included (neither of which has been relegated to wet-parking-lot status), and the whole experience sure did make for a good story, didn't it?