Entouraaaage.

Ava is a fantastic sleeper. Part of it is sheer luck, I'm sure, but I like to think that part of it is also due to have a consistent schedule and routine. Ava knows exactly what happens before naps and bed, and it never really changes. We basically kiss her and place her in her crib and she goes to sleep. Nice.

Somewhere along the way, however, Ava has assembled a group of items that she must take to bed with her. I lovingly refer to these items as her "entourage" -- and I thought I would introduce the members of her entourage to you.

1. The Bink.



I have a love-hate relationship with the bink. On one hand, it is very soothing to Ava and is a way for her to soothe herself to sleep or calm herself down when she is upset. On the other hand, breaking her of that sucker (no pun intended) is going to be hell. The other day it was bedtime, and Ava could not find a bink. I told her to start looking for one, and she rifled through her toy box calling "Hey bink! Hey bink!" Hysterical. When Ava is two and the twins are six months, we are going to fight the Binky battle and get rid of all of the girls' binkies at one time. It should be a fantastic few days -- I'm really looking forward to it (note sarcasm).

2. Gracie Lou



Gracie is Ava's first lovie. She was a gift from Santa for Ava's first Christmas, and Ava has been attached to her ever since. Ava loves Gracie so much that at one time we had three identical Gracies. Then, in one week, we lost two. We searched every Target store in the area (and even had friends and family help with this search!) and scoured the internet to find another Gracie to have as a back-up. Unfortunately, this doll has been replaced with a newer version that wears a hat and does not have pigtails -- Ava wanted nothing to do with it. I finally found one on e-bay and paid $25 for a $7 stuffed toy. Moral of the story: if you're going to introduce a lovie, find one that is readily available and buy it by the gross.

Ava loves Gracie more than anything in the world. She snuggles her at night and rubs her pigtails against her face to soothe herself. Sometimes when I go in to check on Ava at night, she'll stir in her sleep and reach around until she finds Gracie.

3. 'Ket



'Ket (Ava's word for "blanket") is a hand-crocheted blanket that someone made for my baby shower -- and I don't for the life of me remember who it was. If it was you, please know that Ava carries this thing around the house Linus-style. Her new thing is insisting that I cover her with 'ket so that her legs and toes are covered. Then she wiggles around, her feet come out, and we start all over again.


4. Lola the Leopard



Lola is an occasional member of the entourage. Ava made her at Build-a-Bear when Grandma and Grandpa came out to visit. We named her Lola partly because leopard begins with 'L' and partly because she's wearing yellow, like a certain showgirl in a certain Barry Manilow song.

5. Doug



Yes, Doug is pink and covered with flowers. So what? Doug is the result of mommy giving in. We were at Barnes & Noble one day and Ava found Doug randomly discarded at the end of one of the aisles. She carried him around the store, hugging him the entire time. When it was time to go, I told Ava to put him down on the shelf. She set him down and, without taking her hand off him, immediately picked him back up and hugged him. She repeated this several more times. My heart pretty much melted, and Doug became a permanent member of her entourage.

6. The ABC Book



Dr. Seuss's ABC book, Ava's current favorite book, is the newest member of Ava's entourage. Ava is so obsessed with this book that she insists on taking it to bed with her. We read it at least three times a day (some days it is more like 15). She loves the sing-songy rhyme to the verses. We often hear her when she wakes up in the morning "reading" it to herself -- "a-a-a, i-i-i." And she'll suddenly yell out all of the pictures she knows -- "Bubbles! Goggles! Kite! Leg!" Many nights when I go in to check on her, I have to pull this book out from underneath her head. That can't be comfortable, but she certainly doesn't seem to mind.

Here is the entourage in full-force. Doug is missing from the scene -- I'm guessing she's probably sitting on him!



(P.S. -- Notice in this picture, there are TWO copies of the ABC book. We actually bought a board book version of the book at Barnes and Noble because the pages of the real book were becoming pretty frail. Unfortunately the board book version is not exactly the same!)