Baby Dear, and our dear baby

     Tirzah has a doll she has dubbed "Baby Dear"; it was a gift (hand-me-down) from Aurora.  She has had it since she was about 1, and it has always been her favorite doll.  She named it after reading the book, "Baby Dear" by Eloisie Wilkin, where the little girl does everything with her doll that the mom does with her new baby sister.(very appropriate!)  She goes through spurts of intensity, however, and we are in the midst of one right now.  She brings the doll to the table to eat; it has its own high chair that clips to the table.  Tirzah sets a little plate in front of it, and keeps the rest of the family informed as to what the doll is doing.  Levi scoffs at all of this, and gets Tirzah fired right up.  When we go anywhere, Baby Dear comes along in her Moses basket carrier, usually with Mankey for good measure.  Tirzah informed me the other day that Baby Dear should have a car seat.
     At bedtime, the doll sleeps in its own bed (another pass-on from Aurora) at the foot of Tirzah's bed.  AND in pajamas, of course.  Tucking Tirzah in last week, she sighed, "My baby always wakes me up at night, and I have to bring her in bed and nurse her."  Haha!  Wonder where she heard that?  ;-)  Yesterday the children had bee playing outside till evening, and when bedtime came, suddenly Tirzah realized that she didn't have Baby Dear.  What a crisis, to be sure!  I promised I would go out and look for her, and tried to get an general idea of her whereabouts.  Yeah right.  Scott was in the shower and Aila was really fussy, so I find a (lousy) flashlight, and head out into the night, carrying Aila.  It's funny how the yard seems so much bigger in the dark with a only puny little light.  I searched high and low, but no Baby Dear did I find.  A doll dress, yes, a quilt on the grass, yes, but no doll.  After a good hour, OK, 10 minutes, I came back in, only to have Scott say, "Oh, you were out?  Looking for the Baby Dear?  I already gave the doll to Tirzah."  Aye yi yi.  Problem solved, right?  I tucked Tirzah in, and sat down to relax, only to have her come out in tears, stating that Baby Dear needs her clothes.  I told her that we'd have to find her clothes in the morning when it was light.  Cue hysterical crying.  I was not overly impressed.  And I did not go back out to find the doll's clothes.  She cried for a good while, coming back out a couple more times to tell me how much she NEEDED those clothes.  Good night.

     To make matters even more fun, we have another doll lover coming up the ranks.  Aila has discovered babies.  She'll find one on the floor, pick it up and cuddle it, rock back and forth with it, the whole nine.  It's the cutest thing.  Watch out.  That's how Tirzah started, too.  :-)