Rah-rah-rah for Rocket!

When Laura came to visit last May, she warned me that she had a present for Mabes, assuming it would fit in her suitcase. It did (only after taking it to work with her, right Bora?), and Mabes was delighted with her new giant plush Rocket from Little Einsteins. She had a blast with him for the next couple of days, but after that, it just sat on the chair as more of a decoration than a toy.

In the last few months, however, Rocket has become one of her favorite toys and her best friend during quiet time. She talks to him. She plays hide-and-seek with him. They have quite loud conversations, and it sounds like they re-enact her favorite episodes of Little Einsteins during quiet time. Still, I didn't understand her level of attachment until our last night in DC.

Like most nights, she asked "what's going to be tomorrow?" I told her Thursday, and she asked what we'd do. "Well, we'll go to a museum in the morning to see dinosaurs, and then we're going to drive for a while in the car, and then we'll be home." She thought for a minute, "Not the hotel house? But Mabes' house? My green house?" Yes, is that alright? "Yeah, I need to go home, because I miss Rocket." Really? Okaaaaay...

The next morning, as I was getting ready, she decided she needed to make some phone calls, so I unplugged the phone and let her have at it. First, she called the "man at the restaurant" and told him to make us some breakfast. We'd come get it soon. Then she decided she was going to call all her toys at home and tell them she missed them and was coming home. And then she needed to talk to just Rocket for a while. They had a heart-to-heart and she was fine the rest of the morning. The whole drive home, she talked about how much she missed her toys, especially Rocket. When we walked in the apartment, I asked her if she was going to go see Rocket. She slowly walked to her room and peeked in, with that shy "I know I like you and I'm happy to see you but I'm going to play coy for a minute" act that she does with family members she hasn't seen in a while. But this is a stuffed toy. She got over it, greeted all her toys, and was happily playing with them and everything is back to normal. To this day, we can't talk about our trip to Washington or see a picture of the Capitol or Washington Monument without her mentioning that that was when she missed Rocket.

I'm kind of nervous about our trip next week. Considering baggage fees, luggage space will be at a premium so Rocket will not be going with us. (Unless of course he flies himself.) I'm hoping she'll be too distracted by family members to notice Rocket's absence, but fam: if she starts whining about missing Rocket, you'll know why. Blame Laura.