A simple white flannel blanket with navy trim made for Adam by a dear friend. It was just one of several blankets that we cycled through the wash for him, before we put it back up on the shelf.
When Ellie came along a couple years later we pulled it out and put it into her blanket rotation. However it quickly became obvious to us that this simple blanket was much more than just another blanket to Ellie.
Quickly dubbed "Corner Blankey" by Ellie, due to a favorite corner that caught her fancy, she has always loved every square inch of that soft white flannel.
We thought it was so cute how comforting just the sight of the blanket became to her. We loved to watch as she fiddled with one corner while she sucked her thumb with the other hand. You couldn't have asked for a better sleep inducer. 
After a while I got a little nervous about how attached she was to it, so I made all sorts of duplicates...large and small, in hopes that it would never wear out or get lost. I made so many I ran out of the navy trim. Those impostors worked in a pinch (like when Corner Blankey was in the wash), but from the very beginning she called them her "fake corner blankies" and soon refused them altogether. We even tried to replicate the worn edge of her special corner, but alas her loyalty proved too strong for our good intentions.
Corner Blankey has accompanied us on every trip and long car ride we've taken the last nearly four years and has become an icon of comfort in our home. Thankfully it has only ever been lost for brief moments before, due to the fact that Ellie never stays away from it for very long.
So where is Corner Blankey these days?
Gray and shredded and barely recognizable as that bright white soft flannel that we once wrapped Adam in....but just as well loved as ever.
My kids lovingly refer to them as "kikis" and they're always close at hand. Even Avery and Ana (don't ever let them know I told you this!) still have theirs, though we've had to put all of the original kikis away for safe keeping as they started to unravel to the point that no amount of knots would save them (quickly to be replaced by another). I guess there's something to be said for crocheted blankets?
ReplyDeleteI guess what I'm saying is, don't worry if she's still carrying it around the house when she's 11?
We have our blanket attachments in our home as well. I tried to make duplicates for Truman, but he is as wise as Ellie and was not fooled at all!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the warning, Alex. Now I won't be too alarmed if he's still carrying it around with him in 10 years! Hopefully the thumb sucking stops before then though...
Ellie cant go to sleep without her corner blankey so when she doesn't have her corner blankey at night she's complaining for everyone to find it and then she's wining for her blanket and she's in my room!
ReplyDeletetwo of my kids were attached to their baby blankets until the little shredded blanket became unrecognizable!! I love that they have something they can depend on and hold on to for sometime. Don't ask me how they don't have them anymore.
ReplyDeleteAbby did the same thing---attached herself to a blue baseball blanket of Nolan's that she named "Hungie". Go figure. Hungie had to be throw out because she (he?) was literally in pieces.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see Corner Blankey is so resilient!
Ah yes, I can remember frantically searching for Ellie's blankie during your visits to our house and on road trips.
ReplyDeleteThank heavens for comfort items for little girls.
You are a cutie Ellie.
Love, Grandpa-Grandma
You gotta love these blankets. I think Britton sitll has his! (not on active duty anymore but somewhere in his room)
ReplyDeleteI love how clever you were to make so many replacements...and how astute Ellie is to recognize the impostors.
ReplyDelete