Gray's favorite stuffed animal is, hands down, his Sheepie. Problematically, Rain recently decided Sheepie is her favorite too. Since learning to walk, Sheepie has been her constant companion. She toddles through the house, Sheepie's body tucked into the crook of her elbow and his soft ear against her cheek.
"Do you want Piggie?" I asked, handing her the adorable corduroy pig some friends of ours gave her for a baby gift. "How about this nice soft doll?' But no, if it wasn't Sheepie, she flung it to the floor in a demonstration of absolute rejection.
Evenings posed the biggest challenge. Despite sharing his beloved lamb with his sister during the day, Gray was by no means going to accept his bedtime fate without his fleecy companion tucked in beside him. After surrendering Sheepie to the rightful owner, Rain would collapse to the floor in a fit of tears.
One evening I sat down to eBay, and on the eighth-or-so page of "stuffed sheep" results, I found him. An exact twin. $10. Free shipping. I've never hit "submit order" with so much certainty.
Sheepie #2 arrived one Tuesday afternoon while Gray was running errands with Daddy. Rain smiled when I pulled him out of the package. "Beepie!" When Gray returned home and saw two sheep on the living room floor, he laughed and laughed.
Since then, there has been a fair amount of peace. Sometimes the kids want two Sheepies at once, one in each arm, but for the most part they are content to each own one. The funniest part: they know whose is whose. New Sheepie is so white and fluffy compared to his older counterpart. I'm curious to see how long it takes before his fleece is dingy and matted like Veteran Sheepie's. (Why, oh why, did my kids both choose a pure white stuffed animal as their favorite lovey?)
"Maybe the mailman will bring us another Sheepie!" Gray predicted as he saw the postal truck making its rounds the next day.
"Hmmm...probably not," I replied. "Two sheep makes a perfect flock!" (Yes, you can read into that however much you'd like. :-) )
