Blogging for Beau: Beau's Baby.....

We have a new "baby" in our house this week. This new "baby" is a doll from the 50's that Beau found at Grandma Carolyn's house. He's seen her at grandma's house for quite some time, sitting in the closet, usually afraid of her. But on Tuesday, that all changed and Beau wanted to take the baby from the closet and play with her. We all sort of wondered about his sudden interest in this doll. She's a bigger doll and wears a sweater and pants and a diaper. That afternoon when I picked him up from Carolyn's house, he made sure that I met his baby, held his baby, patted his baby's back and changed her diaper. Oh yes, I had to do it all and then he wanted me to bathe her! Needless to say, we weren't leaving grandma's house that night without baby. He wanted me to hold her in my lap while driving - to which I drew the line and allowed baby to sit on the passenger seat next to me. That seemed to satisfy Mr. Beau and he was ready to hold her once we got home.

For the past several days/nights baby has become a big piece of Beau's life. I refer to her as Beau's baby most of the time but we also affectionately call her "Shelly" because Beau can make the sound "Shh" and it's the closest to the sound of a name we could come up with for him to say. He constantly wants me to hold her or he wants to push her around in his stroller, change her diaper, bathe her etc. Bathing her becomes tricky because she fills up with water. Beau is insistent though that when he takes a bath, baby takes a bath which results in a long period of time to drain water from the doll. It becomes quite funny because we have to tip baby forward just right so that the water can drain out of the hole in her mouth. She looks like a fountain. On one night after bath, I balanced baby over the edge of the tub and used an open drawer from the washstand to balance baby over the tub so that she could drain. In the middle of the night when I woke up to use the restroom I scared myself half to death walking in and seeing that baby! The next morning Beau was obsessing over the doll again and I was trying to get both of us ready for work and school. I was in the bathroom getting ready and he dropped the large plastic doll on my toes - ouch. I was fed up with the doll and tossed it out of the bathroom into the hallway. That was when Beau's actions showed me I was a horrible parent lol. He was so concerned for that doll that he hurried over to it crying and laid his head on top of it. I immediately felt horrible. I had thrown this baby that he considered very special and dear to him. I have since been much more careful with Beau's baby.

It wasn't until later in the week that we solved the mystery of the ever important doll. At school, on Tuesday, the same day Beau had removed the baby from the closet at grandma's house, a new little girl had started in his preschool class. Carolyn had taken Beau into his classroom towards the end of the week and noticed that the new 3 year old had started. Our family actually knows this family from church but hadn't realized both kids would be in the same class. From what I have heard this little girl, who is a triplet, is very small for her age, has Down Syndrome and has lots of delays. She can't walk so she is carried around by the teacher or pushed in her stroller. Carolyn said that when Beau went in and saw her, he instantly lit up! His teacher said that he really loved being around "M" and was always trying to help with her care, for example pushing her in her stroller. It seems that we have found our explanation for the sudden interest in the doll and wanting to carry her around and take care of her. He seems to be quite fond of his new classmate and is carrying that nurturing home to his baby doll.

This little boy never ceases to amaze me with his love and emotions. Seems like he might enjoy a sibling.......maybe some day. For now Mr. Beau, you'll have to settle for Shhhhhelly!