Meet Puppy

Hello, folks. I would like to introduce you to Puppy.

See...Puppy is Holden's best bud. Holden seriously loves Puppy - he sleeps with him every single night. (Except for one night when Puppy was in the washing machine and, well, we'll just say it wasn't a good night for any of us. Except maybe Puppy....because he was no longer covered in vomit.) The story of how Puppy came to live with us is an interesting one - especially considering how much Holden adores him. It all started at IKEA about 3 years ago.

(fade into black. Scene opens on a mom and dad pushing 1-year old girl in an IKEA shopping cart.)

Joe and I had brought Scarlett to IKEA for a shopping trip. She must have been about 1. And we were pushing her in a shopping cart. We love IKEA - no question about it. And this trip was no different than any other. We ate. We let Scarlett play in the kid area. We gave her a stuffed toy to hold (Puppy), a toy that Joe would casually sneak out of the cart before we got up to the cash registers, and we went shopping.

Scarlett and Puppy really hit it off. So much so that when we did get up to the cash register, there was no sneaking Puppy out of the shopping cart casually. It was more like "pry the fingers of a screaming 1-year old off of Puppy and get the heck out of there quick before someone calls child services." Only that didn't quite happen. I caved. You see, Scarlett really seemed to love Puppy and I couldn't be the one to break up what would obviously be a lifelong friendship. She was thrilled when I bought Puppy. And when Scarlett got to the car she threw Puppy on the ground and never looked at him again. Ever. Puppy (who, actually, wasn't even CALLED Puppy yet - no one had taken the time to name him) stayed at the bottom of a toy chest for over a year.

And then came Holden. Holden scooped Puppy up and loved him more than he's ever been loved before. And it's so funny to me because there isn't this romantic story to go along with Puppy. He wasn't given to Holden when Holden was born. He wasn't some fancy stuffed animal from F.A.O. Schwartz. Puppy was some random stuffed animal we grabbed at IKEA to occupy our daughter while we were shopping and, quite frankly, Puppy almost went to Goodwill numerous times. But what is one child's trash is another child's treasure. And while I wish Joe and I had come up with a better and more original name than Puppy, I'm happy Puppy is in Holden's life. And so is Holden. And instead of staying at the bottom of the toy chest for years, Puppy is at the head of Holden's bed being loved every single day...and, only occasionally, thrown-up on.