'Dankie'

Here is a picture of Hannah laying on her blanket when it was just a blanket.  See how soft it looks and how bright and clean the colors are?  I saw this blanket at Babies R Us when I was registering for baby items when I was pregnant with Hannah.  It was so soft that when you touched it it almost made you feel like it was melting in your fingers.  This blanket was MY favorite blanket so I often brought it with us wherever we went.

Here is Hannah with her blanket at her 1st birthday party. My ultimate plan worked, by this time Hannah was quite fond of her blankie and always liked to have him close by.  I had realized that I should probably invest in another blanket, the same one, this way if I ever needed to wash this one or if something ever happened to it, I could trick her and just pull the other one out.  She was one, I could certainly out smart her.  You probably guessed it, Hannah caught on and didn't fall for it.  So, there goes that idea...

Here is Hannah, two years old, and her lifelong friend, 'Dankie'.    You can't tell from the picture but in person if you were to take one look at this blanket you can see how much it has been loved during it's short life.  It is no longer soft and melty.  It is no longer bright colors and clean.  At anytime during the day you can find Hannah with her blanket.  Her favorite thing to do is to grab a hold of a chunk, hold up to her nose, take a whiff, and then either rub it gently in her ear (don't ask) or under her nose.  I have even caught her in the summertime rubbing her blanket between her toes....now that is love!  At night when I tuck her in 'Dankie' gets tucked in too.  She likes the 'bumpy side' facing out and will let you know if you have 'Dankie' upside down.  She is not a fan of 'Dankie' getting a bath.  Whenever he needs to be washed I either have to work from home or we have to coordinate around when Hannah isn't here because it will be the longest 90 minutes of your life waiting for the wash and dry cycle.  She is ok with it as long as she doesn't have to be around to witness it.

OK, time to confess....when I am home alone and Hannah isn't here, I like to snuggle up with 'Dankie' or get a good sniff in.  Makes me feel like she is here with me :-)