A Tale of Two Thumpers

As most of you know, Taylor has had a little Thumper security blanket since she was about 2 months old. My step-mom Deanna bought it for her, and what was at first just a cute and soft toy soon became a major staple in our daughter's life. Around about 10 months old, Taylor definitely had a major attachment to him, and god forbid if he's MIA whenever she's hurt or it's time to go to sleep.

Now, any parent who's been through this whole attachment thing will tell you the most important thing you can have with a security item is a backup. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the Disney Store just carried one of these damn blankets in the history of their being open, because I searched high and low (with zero luck I might add) for another just in case something were to happen to the original.

This Christmas I was whining to Deanna and my sister-in-law Anna Lisa about the fact that I'm pretty sure we own the only Thumper in existence (Guess who decided to start the laundry, with Thumper in the wash, too late one evening? Yeah, Taylor screamed non-stop until he finally came out of the dryer. It was one of the longest nights of my life, one that I have no desire whatsoever to repeat.). Now mind you, I have scoured the internet as much as I could stand to, but Anna Lisa took our little problem to heart and really did some searching. Within a week we had not one, but TWO shiny new backup Thumper blankets! Woo-hoo!

We made sure to keep OT (original Thumper) out of sight while making the introduction to NT (new Thumper), stupidly hoping she wouldn't know the difference. At first glance she greeted him with a happy, "Thumper!" Then, once she realized he felt weird (aka - much softer and not so wooled around), she held NT by her thumb and forefinger as if he were a rotten banana peel and immediately demanded for the real deal. We tried to convince her that this really was her Thumper, he'd just had a really good bath, but no dice. By bedtime the showdown was on, and Jody and I threw up our hands in defeat and went to get OT from the place where he'd last been spotted. And that folks, is where the real fun started.

He was gone. I had remembered exactly where he was, so that he could easily be located in case he was needed, and I'll be damned if he was there. Jody and I spent literally an entire hour tearing our house apart looking for OT, with absolutely no luck. Finally we had to admit defeat and put Taylor to bed with NT, and she was just going to have to cope. Fortunately, she managed ok.

For two whole days OT seemed to have just evaporated. There was no trace of him whatsoever. Then, yesterday morning as I opened my underwear drawer, I saw his ratty little eyes looking back up at me (Yes, I did change my underwear in that timeframe, and I bathed too. I hate folding laundry, and perhaps I was digging my fresh undies out of the dryer every day. Don't judge me.). Since we had gone two whole days without him, Jody and I made the executive decision to keep him hidden, only now he's stashed in our safe, safe from little hands that want to hide him in random drawers. We are also going to start a rotation with the two NT's in the hope that they'll both get all pitted out enough to where the three of them will match enough that she won't be able to tell which is which.

Just a litte side by side. NT is on the left, and ratty OT is on the right. The difference is waaaaay more perceptible in person than in photos, just trust me, he looks pretty ragged.

Left: soft and cuddly. Right: has been dragged, chewed, barfed on, etc.