Bunny Love

Fellow blogger/HHS grad/old friend of mine Stefanie had her adorable baby boy a few months ago and as any good new mom does, she's been posting photos of him on her blog. In several photos, baby Jake is holding his lovey--a bunny with a little yellow blanket attached. The first time I saw Stef post about it, I freaked. 1. Because I'm a stay at home mom, and other people's new blog posts are about as exciting as my life gets these days, and 2. Because Libby has the exact same bunny (albeit in purple) as HER lovey! Seeing how cute little Jake looked with his Bun Bun, I started scrolling through old photos, looking for one of Libby and Bunny but was shocked to see that no such photos existed.

How could this be possible? Bunny goes every-freaking-where with us. Libby doesn't let it out her sight. From the moment my mom and I picked Bunny out of a little shop in Occoquan when Libby was not yet 5 months old, he's been a constant fixture in her life (except those rare occasions when I get to sneak him into the washer for a much-needed bath). When Libby falls or hurts herself, its Bunny she cries for, not me. When I go to get her out of her crib in the morning, its Bunny dangling over the crib rail waiting to come downstairs with her. When I sneak into her room at night, its Bunny tucked under her arm. When she's nervous or overwhelmed, its Bunny she reaches for. Although I often overlook it, I can't help but love the way Libby instinctively turns Bunny until she finds his ear, grabs hold and pulls him to her face, thumb-in-mouth, all in one swift motion. We've often joked that Libby doesn't realize her thumb is attached to her hand, not Bunny. I can't count the number of times during the day I hear "Bunny? Bunny?" if she can't find him fast enough. Lately, she's taken to holding both of his hands and shaking him up and down, announcing "Bunny dancing!" or "Bunny jumping!". In short, Bunny is Libby's BFF.

I finally realized that the reason Bunny was missing from all of our photos is because we've gotten ourselves into a habit of pulling Bunny out Libby's hands when the camera comes out. We see Bunny all the time--of course we don't want him in every photo! But I got to thinking--isn't the point of photos to capture a moment in time? In ten years, when I look back at photos of my daughter, I want to see her the way I remember her--unruly curls, jeans and a t-shirt, and Bunny in hand. So here she is. Her and her best friend.