Who do you sleep with?

Amelia's slept every night in her room now since we started. She wakes up once or twice, and I either spend the second half of the night with her, or manage to get back to my own bed. I'm so pleased and proud of her, although she hasn't seemed to really have noticed much, except when she wakes in the night and I'm not right there, but even that's been not bad at all. These are the guests she invited into her bed tonight, and she had me kiss them all too, how could I refuse? When she slept beside me, she never slept with a stuffie or doll, and didn't really seem too attached to them either. During the move, this Shirley Temple doll re-surfaced, (that our grandma had given to me and Molli as children), and Amelia fell in love. In my ideal plan in my mind, Amelia's first doll would be the Waldorf doll that Molli is making that we were planning to give to her for her second birthday, in time for the new baby in the house. We have put a rush on that doll, it will be more cuddly than this stiff plastic one. Amelia has tried a few times to go to sleep resting on Shirley's belly, but it's just not made for that!

Amelia is very sweet with Shirley, she doesn't do everything with us, but when she's around she'll join us for storytime, get kisses if she falls, walk up the stairs (which is tricky if you already are using your hands to get up the stairs), watch bathtime (from a safe distance) and, of course, go to sleep with us. Sometimes, some of the stuffies will join us in our activities too if they happen to be around (like tonight).

It's interesting for me to watch this play naturally unfold, I don't remember playing with animals or dolls much as a child, I wasn't a tomboy and we did play with Barbies but I never was much into dolls like this that I remember, granted my memory is not that good... But the play that Amelia engages in with these has unfolded quite by itself. The first time she found the doll, I showed her how to hold her gently, and once she dropped her down the stairs and Lance told Amelia that's not how we play with dolls and gave Shirley a hug for the fall, and that's all the guidance Amelia has needed. When the child is ready the doll shall appear???