#1 Ducky

Oden has a very special blanket that he calls Ducky.  It was given to us when he was born by a friend at Bill's work.  It is a very typical boy baby blanket.  Blue with little blue baby booties, onesies and ducks on it.  Oden became attached to it along the way and it became his comfort object.  He takes it everywhere with him and it is the only thing he wants on him at night when he goes to bed.  I love it because it is a big blanket that still covers him up at almost 4 yrs old.  It is something I will hold onto in his memory box. 

In the spirit of preserving memories, I wanted to include this little story about just how important Mr. Ducky really is:

Whenever Oden gets hurt, even if I am standing right there next to him, he looks for Ducky first.  "Where's my ducky?  Where's my ducky?"  He will run around the entire house in pain and crying until he finds his duck.  Then, once he has ducky in arms, he comes to Mom.  His hierarchy of comfort looks like this:

#1 Duck
#2 Mom

There was one incident where he was very hurt and in pain.  I was scared because I had witnessed the accident.  I went for him to hold him and assess the damage, but he screamed at me to let him go, ran and grabbed the ducky, then he ran back to my arms.  He was crying the entire time.  I ended up laughing because if it were me, I would have wanted my mom.  He

The duck is there for us in times of crisis, times of stress and times of sleepiness.  What would we do without him.  Sadly, Mr. Duck is starting to fade into the background.  Soon he will be wrapped up in a box and forgotten.  Oden has started getting by without him more and more.  Last night he went to bed without him, didn't even ask for him, until about 1 am when he woke up from a dream.  I'm just so glad that he chose to do this in his own time and at his own pace.  I didn't have to be the mean Mom who took it away by force.  At least he will always associate happy emotions with it. 

I love you Mr. Ducky.






Brand New Ducky - Oden 3 Months



Ducky 4 Years Later (Today)



Going for a Ride with my Ducky