We have a lovey...

...and it is a plush, orange cat. No, not a Garfield. Just an orange cat with yellow stripes which can bring the biggest smiles when nothing else will, not even Mama. A cat that even has Fidget learning to stand up on her tippy toes when the cat has been left behind on the bed or just up, out-of-reach.

Funny how we came to acquire said cat...

Tuesday we made a run to Target. On this trip, I decided to take a quick detour down the toy aisle, as I have a couple of birthday presents that we need to buy, and on occasion I like to hold up toys for Fidget to play with to see how she reacts. NOTE: This has not been an issue before. She either likes it, squeals with delight, plays with it for a second, and then I put it back on the shelf; or she doesn't react at all. Well, seems those days are now over. She wanted everything off the shelf, and if I wasn't going to pick it up and put it in front of her, she was going to crawl out of the cart and get it herself. So, I played along for a little while, holding a few in front of her to see what she liked and didn't, but she was not happy when I told her it was time to put them back on the shelf. In fact she started pitching a tiny tantrum as I sadly realized that I was now going to be one of "those" mothers with one of "those" kids. You know the ones...come on, admit it...you've had those thoughts too!


So, to distract Fidget while I finished my shopping, I handed her a stuffed animal to keep her occupied. I happened to grab a cat. A stuffed, orange cat that not only would keep her quiet, but one that made her grin from ear to ear and hug it and cling to it unlike she'd ever clutched any of her bears or dolls at home.

Did I mention the cling? When I was finished shopping, I tried to take the cat away from her to put back on the shelf. You should have seen the face that Fidget gave me. She clutched that cat and pulled it back to her (as I foolishly tried to wrestle it from her grip), kissed it and cuddled it to tell me it was hers. All it took was seeing her kiss that silly cat, and my heart melted, and ...yes, not only did I give in, but also I broke 2 of my "steadfast" rules:

1) I will not randomly buy toys on shopping trips to keep a kid quiet.
2) NO MORE STUFFED ANIMALS!!! (enough is enough already!)

So, I can see I have much work to do. Oh, and the irony of all of this? On the way to Target, I was thinking to myself, "I can't believe Rory hasn't become attached to a 'lovey' yet." Those thoughts will get you every time!

Not the best pictures, but you get the idea...