The Things She Carries With Her

Lately La Luz has turned into a bit of a pack rat. There's no question that she has always enjoyed having a toy or two around at all times, just in case. I probably created this monster. Whenever we leave the house I make sure to have about 3 different options in my purse to avert melt-downs in public. What was once easily thwarted by milk bottles has over time become much more challenging to fight. Still, I find toys are reliable. These are my go-to distractions: the un-leaded Dora figurine; a baby doll; the Little Golden Book about Noah's Ark; Achoo, the semi-mechanical kitty cat; and the plush Dora and Diego dolls. The lineup changes over time and certain new items are subbed in for older, tired attractions.

The downside of my packing, planing, and anticipating is that the effects have spilled over into La Luz's bed. Lately, the nighttime routine has gotten slightly more complicated. The inventory used to include bun-bun and pink silky, those were easy times. These days I have to do what amounts, essentially, to a roll call. Tonight it went a little something like this : bun-bun, check; pink silky, check; twin rubber duckies, check; knuffle bunny, check; The Things People Do, check; Disney's, A Spooky Princess Halloween, check. Too add even more chaos to La Luz's bed, last time we were in Thibodaux she insisted on bringing Molly's old Care Bear pillow case and Strawberry Shortcake sheets back to New Orleans. Now La Luz's bed is a gigantic Mattel nightmare. It should be no surprise, considering the over-sized pillow and the billowy bedding, that stuff gets lost. Consequently, for the past few nights La Luz has screamed at about 3 o'clock in the morning because she was concerned that, perhaps, someone had taken the knuffle bunny out of her bed or that one of the duckies jumped ship. I always race to her room, sure that she somehow managed to do something really dangerous, what with all the junk in her bed, only to find that she is just worried about her stuff. Generally, knuffle bunny is exactly where we left him, stuffed between the pillow and the bed bars, and the ducky is usually just caught up in the creases of the sheets. Once she is satisfied that everything is accounted for, she goes back to sleep.

It is frustrating, but I sort of understand it, and can't say I blame her. I have some of the same tendencies and I remember Molly behaving in precisely the same manner. So, this is all somewhat familiar to me, if not a bit humorous. Plus, even at 3 a.m., she is still really adorable.

Here she is this evening, after a walk with Margot and Chloe: