Blanket-Sniffer and Toe-Sucker

All kids adopt adorable idiosyncrasies at various stages that make their parents smile. And all fellow parents know that we're smiling for two reasons: 1.) Our kids are just so stinking cute. 2.) We're thinking ahead to when they bring a boyfriend home for the first time and we can drag out these stories again. Preferably with pictures if available.

Janelle has had a blanket since she was 4 months old and the horrible scream-fest of naptime battles began. It was our attempt to give her something comforting and familiar to take to bed since taking Mama or Daddy with her was not an option. It worked like a charm and her blanket has been a fixture of this house ever since. Its name has evolved from "baba" to "blankie" to the now very obvious but mature, "blanket". There are actually always two blankets, for washing purposes, otherwise there would be no words to describe the colonies of germs setting up homes, selling real estate, and having little baby germies. Eeewww. We are on our third set of blankets right now since being a full-time blanket is a demanding job and we've had some casualties along the way. (Thanks to Grandma, our ever-willing, replacement-sewing savior.) To say that Janelle loves her blanket might be a bit of an understatement. She loves everything about it, especially the smell. She will hold it with one little hand over the bottom half of her face, completely covering her nose and mouth. Slightly muffled, I'll hear, "I so wuv to sniff my blanket. It smells so warm and cozy." And I know exactly what she means. Lots of things "smell" warm and cozy: chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven, clean sheets fresh out of the dryer, a baby slathered in Johnson's Baby Lotion... and, apparently, Nelly's little pink blanket.

Lilly, on the other hand, has discovered an entirely different source of comfort: her toes. I can't keep socks on that girl. As soon as I put them on, she is working determinedly to get them off. I'll turn around to find her socks missing and her chubby baby toe jammed as far in her mouth as she can get it. She'll suck on any of them, but she prefers her big toe. She'll find it in her crib, in her car seat, and in the bathtub. And heaven forbid I dress her in footie-pajamas. She will still suck on her foot, grunting in irritation the entire time, until the fabric is sopping wet. I'm just glad we're on the cusp of summer because her poor little piggies would be so cold in our frigid Pennsylvania winters. It's still pretty cute at this point since she has adorable fat little baby toes but we're hoping she grows out of it before too long since there is definitely an ick-factor to dirty, sweaty toddler feet.

So Andy & I smile when Janelle has to take a break from coloring to sniff her blanket for a while and we laugh when a very distinct sucking sounds emanates from Lilly's car seat on the way to church. These funny quirks will eventually be nothing but happy memories when the house is empty and quiet and we look at each other and say, "Remember when..."