LOL! We have many similar duckie stories in our house. I have a 4 yr old with a favorite duckie. She received him when she was a wee 3 months old and he has rarely ever left her side (except for the occasional spin thru the wash cycle and alot of times she won’t let me dry him so she gets him back damp). You know, we now have 4 duckies thanks to the generosity of strangers on the internet (I placed ISO posts on my fave mommy message board when we “misplaced” duckie 1 and I ended up with 3 more!) When she was around 2, she KNEW the difference between duckie 1 and 2 simply by the smell– *yuck*! But now you can tell the difference just by looking at them LOL! But by this age, she is much more patient about “bath time” for duckie and she even requests he have a “bath” when he gets dirty! Although a bath doesn’t do much for his appearance anymore. His head has been sewn back on, his hands have holes in them from where she pokes at him while falling asleep, he is really thin in girth and in fabric etc. Just the other day we took a picture showing duckie1, 2 and 3 together and it is amazing! (duckie 4 is tucked far away). I wish I could share the photo with you, but I am not sure how to add them to my comment.
I just have to laugh at your duck stories, especially at the one where he discovered the replacement, since this is exactly how our daughter discovered duckie 2.
But duckie 1 is still her absolute favorite and we cannot go anywhere or do anything without him (he is like our 3rd child)! But honestly, she is not the only one attached to him…I am embarrassed to say I am to. For he is a part of her. One time we thought we lost him at the mall. We called security and every store we walked into in that mall and he was never found. I actually started crying…I was sad at the thought that something that was such a big part of her little life and who she is was gone. I had always imagined that someday she would decide she would be too big to be carrying her duckie around and at that time we would lovingly pack him in a special box. Then she would always have him whenever she needed him. But he suddenly just turned up!
Anyway, I am rambling on and on…you don’t know me and I don’t know you. I stumbled across your site from the Top Birth Announcement Sites list and got very involved in all your Lil Duck Duck stories. They are so precious!!! I just thought I would share one of my duckie stories
Best wishes to you and yours,
Susan