"B"

I think "B" deserves his own post. I mean, he's been part of our lives for two-and-a-half years. He's seen us through sleepless nights, teething, pacifier weaning, sickness, potty training, car rides...you name it. He's Vienna's trusty blankie. 

She has been attached to him from the beginning. She cuddled with him when she as newborn, she loved the soft material against her face while she slept. Ever since then B has gone wherever Vienna has gone. She chewed on him while she teethed. She snuggled him every night, every nap time--its pretty much impossible for her to fall asleep without her B....

 

So after two-and-a-half years of that kind of toddler love...B is starting to look a little...worn:

And this is a good picture of him. If you could only smell him. And feel him. Lets just say....B doesn't have a lot of life left him. He's been through countless potty accidents. A vaseline mess. Sick nights. Dirty cars...you name it. 

This made me super sad. I know Vienna isn't even close to detaching from her B. But I shudder at the thought of snuggling him for another couple years...I mean, seriously, when you cuddle with your sweet girl and then she throws a nasty, stinky blankie next to your face so she can lean against you...it kind of ruins the moment. 

I can only imagine how many germs are wedged in all the little crevices and fibers of that thing.

I've done it before, with no luck, but I decided to see if there was any way I could find another one. The blanket is discontinued and when I looked awhile back the only duplicate I could find was on amazon for $60. Yeah, exactly...No way. It might be a special blankie...and it might be that gross, but $60 is just a little ridiculous. However, this time when I looked I happened to find one on ebay for a little less than half that price. To me it was still a lot of money for a blanket...especially since I had no idea if my plan would even work. But I went out on a limb and ordered it.

Vienna kept pointing out the rips and tears in her B and I kept telling her I was going to fix it. Hoping that perhaps this could play in my advantage when the new one arrived and especially since she seemed to be extremely concerned about the state of her B. 

When the new B came in the mail I instantly knew there was no way Vienna was going to swap her old one for this one. It smelt funny new, it was stiff, and bright. I had no clue how I was going to replace the old one for the new one...I knew reasoning with a toddler wasn't going to work, especially when Vienna has a meltdown every time B needs to have a "bath." So the new blanket sat in my laundry room for several days while I debated whether or not to return it. Finally I decided to throw it in with pretty much every load of laundry I did to try and "wear it in." Since Vienna constantly holds her B to her face and smells it...I knew I had to do something about that new stench. So I thought it would be a good idea to sneak the new blankie in bed with her at night after she fell asleep--when Finley got up to eat in the early morning hours I'd simply go back in and take him out...hoping that in doing so the new blanket would start to pick up that familiar smell. 

A good idea, right? I thought so. Except, three days after I started doing that I totally forgot to take him out when Finely got up to eat in the morning. I thought about it around 6am...and knew there was no way I could sneak him out without waking her up. This was going to be interesting...Vienna was going to discover she had two B's...how was I going to explain that one?

Like every morning, Vienna came stumbling into my room and came to my side of the bed. Like always, she was clutching her B, ready to crawl into bed with me and snuggle for a few short minutes before she would ask me to "be all done" (i.e. get up.) I was shocked when I saw that the blanket she was clutching was the new one! She didn't say a word about it and crawled into bed. 

No way. It was that simple?

Apparently. Before she had a chance to notice I snuck into her room and found the old B buried in her bedding. I think he got lost in the mess and when she got up she didn't even notice that there were two. 

The switch was made, by accident! Perhaps Vienna thinks that Mommy finally fixed her B. ???

Oddly enough when I found the old B lying, discarded in the bed, I was sad. Even though he stunk, looked bad, and totally grossed me out...I thought about all those moments that made him like that and I simply could no throw him away. Instead, I stuck him in a basket on a shelf and decided that I would have to make a decision about what to do with him later. That was a week ago...and I still cannot bring myself to toss him--even if Vienna is totally happy and in love with her new B. 

Silly, I know...I guess I'm just sentimental. 

I do have to say, however, that I am entirely glad to have a renewed life in B. He's still the same old B that goes everywhere with V...here's to a couple more years of life fluffy guy!