Blanky and Me

Ian has a blue, quilt-like blanket (maybe it is a quilt, of the industrial type) with baby-blocks and letters and numbers on it. It is nearly always on the boys' bed, but when they get territorial about blankets, Ian always takes this one for himself. I know he knows it's his, but I wasn't sure whether he knew the history of it, until he explained his special relationship with his blanket to Daniel:

"I've had this one since I was just a baby."

I rather wonder how he knows this; whether he simply remembers back to the pre-verbal years, or if Amy told him. My guess is the former - that he has a timeless recognition of this most time-honored of props in his daily life.

And of course, just hearing Ian talk about himself as just a baby brings out a wistful tenderness in me. I call all three children "Baby," and Ian is the most accepting of this title (and Madeleine, the most resistant), but they do seem to recognize, at this point, that this is a permanent title for them in my inner-life, no matter how big-kid they may feel themselves to be.

I wasn't always like this - certainly not ten years ago, before this "project" commenced. And there are people who actually find me amusing, in my doddering dotage of late. Some people can't really help themselves...

(February 7, 2012)