Ba, Ba, You Damn Little Sheep

Karlie has a Ba.  It is her absolute favorite, favorite, favorite stuffed animal.  She has multiple blankies and depending on the day, other favorite stuffed animals, but they ALWAYS come second to Ba.  If it is time to sleep, cry, or even in times of great happiness, we need BA.  BA needs food and drink at the same time as Karlie, and frequently he needs bottles, to be burped and put down for a nap, go potty or a new diaper, etc at the same time as everyone else.  He also likes to play outside, typically in Karlie's jacket.  He is very needy.  BA is an extremely well-loved, ragged out, used to be white sheep.  Of course it is one of those stuffed animals that came from the dollar store (I know this because I finally found more BAs) which means that he does not hold up to wear and tear nearly as well as a 2-year old thinks it should.

Last Friday, BA underwent major surgery.  Two of his arms needed to be sewn back on (they were almost completely torn off), and his entire chest cavity was seeping out.  Ok.  No problem.  Mommy the surgeon took care of that.  Happiness and contentment in our world again.

Yesterday, we lost BA.  WE LOST BA!  WE LOST BA!  THIS IS NOT GOOD!  Somehow, that damn little sheep has found the most elusive hiding place in our house - I know he is in our house somewhere - and after hours of searching by myself during the day, then searching again with the hubs last night, we had to declare BA missing. 

As I said previously, I found more BAs at the dollar store.  We have 8 more of these little sheep in a bag in the closet in Karlie's room.  According to Karlie, these are not acceptable.  They are new BAs and have no resemblance to old BA (she is completely right - new BA is entirely too white and fluffy).  Damn.  Are you sure you can't sleep with a new BA?  Ha Ha.  "That not BA Mommy, I need BA!!!!!!"  Damn!!!

We have lost BA before.  Of course it was one of those special times when my husband was out of town, so the frantic searching ensued for hours by myself.  I didn't find BA then either - I am fairly certain he was "exchanged" for a rooster at the Kroger. I called the store, and did another frantic search in the parking lot at the Kroger, but it was no use.  BA was gone.  So, I took a new BA, cut off his tail, ripped some holes in him, let the dogs chew on it for a little while and ran him over with my car.  I then proceeded to sew a new, more acceptable "tail" which would be the tag - the most important part - and all of the sudden - "Mommy, you found BA!" was declared and I could finally relax a little.

Last night, Karlie passed out from exhaustion so BA wasn't such a big deal at this point.  Luckily, from my previous experiences with that damn little sheep, I now am constantly breaking in a new BA.  I always throw one in with the whites in order to start the "matted, well-loved" look.  So, while I am sure that I will need to "fix" the tail this morning, and he might still need to be played with by the dogs, and hell, I'll probably just run over him with my car for fun, new BA will hopefully become acceptable as old BA by the afternoon.

God I hope so.