I want my baby back

Ah... the face of a happy kid. Yesterday he got his baby back. Sadly, the baby (Franky Wayne Wayne, who is generally not allowed to wear clothing) was inadvertantly abandoned at Shannon's parents house in June, and they were finally reunited yesterday. Thankfully, the baby is not a crucial member of the bedtime experience, although we have had to address where is my baby? and why isn't my baby here? over the last few weeks on a regular basis: "we left him at Sean and Rosemary's, Bub... he's being sent back right now... he's in the mail, sweetie... we'll have him back soon."

A stuffed dog named Jake (yes, Jake) was filling in for the baby as "other toy" given clearance to sleep on the bed. Puddles the duck is and always will be the most important stuffed friend - that's why there are three of them. Aside to new parents everywhere: if (when, actually) you see your child gravitating towards a particular soft object during naptime more than all other soft objects, try to acquire at least 2 more identical soft objects. This way, you can misplace one, wash one, and still have one ready for naptime. Do it quickly, lest they become addicted to the smell/essence/aura of the first one. (Did I just use the word "lest"?) I digress.

So last night at bedtime when I reminded Kai that we had the baby back, he insisted (insisted!) that Jake-the-stuffed-dog be taken away, and that I be the one to do the dirty deed of removing said dog. Simple conservation of bed-space, I suppose: Article 4, Section 9: "With the exception of a pillow, any necessary bedding and the human child, there must be no more than two and no less than two objects taking up space on the mattress at any time during which sleep is to occur." We don't make up these rules, but we must adhere to them.