Last week, Mommy made a silly mistake. I don't usually let the kids bring anything with them when we leave the house for fear of losing it. I am especially strict about favorite toys/blankets since the kids like to choose for their favorites things that are hard to replace. Well last week, in a hurry, I goofed. My mom gave Hailey a little elephant rattle from my childhood when she was about 6 months old. She smiled and immediately took a liking to it. It's the only animal she's ever shown a preference for and although she doesn't sleep with it every night or demand it every waking hour, she loved that little elephant and often carried it around and snuggled it, always choosing it over any other stuffed animal when given the option. Last week, we were running late while taking Hannah to preschool. Hailey was still holding the elephant as she had just woken up, and I didn't have the heart to take it away from her. I put her in the car with the elephant, and that's the last time I remember her having it for sure. We went to preschool and the grocery and I'm pretty certain she had it at one or both of those places, but somewhere along the way, we apparently dropped it. I am not used to watching for toys since I don't usually let the kids bring them anywhere, so I didn't notice when it went missing. It wasn't until we got home and I went to put Hailey down for a nap that I noticed it was gone. Uh-oh. I tore the car apart, hoping that it was just lost in there somewhere. No. I called the school and the store. Nope. In a last act of desperation, we went back to both places (foregoing the nap) to retrace our steps. No luck. I have since checked both places several times but it's been a week now and somehow I'm doubting that someone is holding on to an old, well-loved elephant rattle, just waiting to turn it in to Lost and Found. The lady at the store (probably in an effort to get me to quit calling) suggested that we probably dropped it in the parking lot and someone threw it away. A sad ending for a well-loved toy - we'll just hope someone picked it up, washed it off, and took it home to their baby instead.
I know I'm being too sentimental and Hailey will have other toys she loves, but this was her first and I already had a special place set aside in her memory box for it. I guess the pictures will have to do. I actually have many pictures of her with the elephant, but here is my favorite. She is 8 months old:
Here is the last picture of her and the elephant, snapped about a month ago:
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