Our Morning So Far

I simply was not going to get out of bed before 6:00 am. Lil’ T was none to happy with me, but that was my decision, and I fancy myself in charge. Cowboy Buddy is conveniently out of town for our morning dance of juice, Wiggles and now ever-present tension between Rufus (the dog) and Lil’ T, who gives him toys and then screams when he actually takes them. And then there’s Ditty, T’s knitted blanket, her companion through thick and thin. She’s standing at my knee as I write this, Ditty held up to her nose, middle two fingers in her mouth, head against my leg. Very sweet, but sometimes I feel like I have an extra appendage. I know there will probably be a day when I’ll long for the time that she wanted to be with me, so I try just to let it be. But having an extra appendage makes it hard to type.

Lil T’s Ditty was lovingly knitted for her by Sandee, our favorite baby sitter, who nannied for T for about nine months after I went back to work part-time. We love Sandee and Sandee adores T. She made the first Ditty as a shower gift for me while I was still pregnant, and since then has made two more: School Ditty (for day care naps) and the newly-arrived Car Ditty, which she just brought over the other day. Both school Ditty and Car Ditty are smaller versions of the original. Car Ditty lives in the house and travels back and forth to the car, so right now we just call them Big Ditty and Little Ditty. Sunday after noon I found myself at the Verizon Wireless store purchasing a new cell phone after Lil’ T dropped mine in a glass of water. Usually I like to buy new gadgets, but I was not thrilled about having to make this purchase. Anyway, T was in her stroller in the Ditty position, fingers in mouth, blanket held to her nose. Another customer looked down at her and said, “She’s all about that blankey, isn’t she?” “If you only knew,” I said. “If you only knew.”