Dear Sweet Puppy,
I remember the day that you came into our lives. I was pregnant with Little Chirp. Brainy Bird was five, and he was excited about becoming a big brother. He did not know what he was in for, neither did you. That day, we were on a mission to find Little Chirp a lovey that he would have from the day that he was born. Brainy Bird was certain that this special stuffed animal needed to be a puppy.
We found the sweetest, softest little puppy that we could, and that was you. You were named after Fluffy. Fluffy was a stuffed animal that I got for Easter when I was in elementary school. Actually…that isn’t true. Fluffy was a fluffy bright yellow duck that my sister got for Easter, but when my big brother saw how much I loved Fluffy; he switched Fluffy with Hungary Hare, who was meant for me. He then claimed the Easter Bunny had left Fluffy for me and Hungry Hare for my sister.
I took extreme care of Fluffy. He was my favorite lovey’s best friend, and he spent a lot of his time during my childhood on a shelf next to my bed, where he remained in mint condition. I am not sure how he wound up in Brainy Bird’s hands decades later, but he got to take the main stage in a child’s heart, and he was on Brainy Bird’s pillow next to him every night instead of being on a shelf. Fluffy taught me as a parent how important a child’s favorite lovey is, and that is why we were in search of you.
We named you Ruffy. A dog says, “ruff”, and you were fluffy like Brainy Bird’s prized stuffed animal, so we decided on Ruffy. You went every where with Little Chirp from day one. Now he is four, and just like Fluffy, you are matted, and I wonder if your head may detach from your body some day. You still have your gold ribbon around your neck, but it isn’t shiny any more.
You are lucky in the world of loveys. You belong to a very loyal child who has never displaced you despite the countless stuffed animals that he has gotten for birthdays, Easters and Christmases. Little Chirp is also a young four, and he still gladly takes you any where that I will allow. Fluffy never saw the inside of Brainy Bird’s school at age four. Heck! I barely got to kiss Brainy Bird bye at age four. You still go to school with Little Chirp, and he still loves lots of hugs and kisses from mommy in front of the other kids at school. You often “ride shot gun” in my car when Little Chirp carries you out the door, but I do not want him to keep you all day at his school. I worry about something happening to you, and he is getting bigger and needs to venture to school on his own.
When we go out to dinner, we are still a party of four – Me, Brainy Bird, Little Chirp & you. Waitresses love to seat the sweet puppy, so loved by the blonde haired, big brown eyed child, in a chair of his own.
Tonight had to have been a shining moment for you. Little Chirp got to his bed to find that our maid had put more than a dozen stuffed animals on to his bed. Little Chirp threw every one of them off, and then grabbed you to cuddle up and go to sleep. You are and have always been number one with him.
Still we will soon be going through the same thing. Our Little Chirp is growing up fast, and he loves to cuddle and be a sweet little boy, but while he is growing out of this slower than some children; he is still growing up. Little Chirp is strong and confident, and in time you will be on a shelf next to Fluffy, while Little Chirp ventures off to grade school. And I too will lose my spot as his number one playmate as he makes friends and Mommy and a stuffed puppy are no longer the coolest thing in his world.
No one else will cherish the upcoming days of preschool more than you and I, as we still have him as our own.
Thank you for being a sweet, special lovey to my Little Chirp 🙂
Love always,
Little Chirp’s Mommy