Saturday, September 8, 2012

Mimi and Kiki

By the title you could believe that this is about individuals by the names of Mimi and Kiki, but they are in fact two things we never leave the house without- Amélie's special blankie (mimi) and her binky (kiki).

I wanted to write about this because one day I'll be able to look back and enjoy all the little or not so little things that were a part of our lives with these two babies. These two objects have certainly become a big part of our lives in the last several months.

For a while now, as long as we've been tucking Amélie into bed at night, she's always had her blankie. As part our routine we lay her blankets on top of her and then wish her a goodnight and give her a kiss before we walk out the door. Well, somehow along the way, Amélie decided her blankie was mimi. Since I was a child, I've always referred to bedtime/sleeping as mimi. I think it's just a nickname for dormir, which means to sleep in Spanish. It's not something I made up. My parents used the term and I've heard other people use it as well. Anyways, since then we've called her blankie, mimi. There was a time period of about two months a while back where Amélie wanted her mimi to go with us everywhere and we were fine with it. The doctor even said it was a good thing she was attached to an object as her security item and not a human. He said it was perfectly normal. We thought it was cute. She got over taking it with her everywhere, but it still remained part of bedtime.

Mimi's helping me eat my special pink! cupcake. 
This girl is in love with pink(how ironic) due to Pinkalicious books. 

Fast forward to about two months before Sebastian arrived and Amélie started asking to take mimi (oh, and we think it's a "she." ie. "Where's mimi? Where did you leave her?") with us everywhere. We were okay with it again, but it slowly progressed and now is at a serious obsessive level for her. We can convince her to leave mimi home for certain things or put her down for activities, but we almost never leave home without her because it.can.be.bad! The thing doesn't leave her sight at home, too. We probably hear her asking for mimi no less that 4 times in an hour. If she's(mimi) in the other room and we can't get it to Amélie THAT second she will go into hysterics while repeatedly asking for mimi and kiki. Imagine this happening while we're out and mimi is at home? Help.

Color without mimi and kiki by my side? Heck no, Joe. 
Mimi on the chair, kiki on the counter. 

Mimi used to get dragged on the floor and you can imagine this thing got filthy! There were a few times where I tried to convince her to take another blankie, but nope. That's not mimi! We even found a fleece with Curious George, whom she LOVES, on it at Joann's that I made into a little lovey blankie with the hopes of it taking the place of mimi, but that did not work for a minute. I was seriously embarrassed of my little girl walking around with her dirty blankie she didn't want to give up and so I cut her in half. That way I can wash one half while she has the other. Thank goodness she didn't notice.

I think along with the sense of security that she gets from mimi, she also feels the same way about kiki. Her binky has always just been part of her sleep routine. We'd give it to her right before we walked out and sometime throughout the night she's spit it out and that was that. It wouldn't be seen or talked about until the next sleep session. But again, about two months before Sebastian arrived (noticing a pattern??) she started using her binky all the time! Ugh, I hate that darn pacifier. Right before she started asking for it all the time, I was at the point where I was thinking about putting the binky away somewhere and never seeing it again because she's a big girl and I felt it was time for it to be gone.

If she's got mimi, kiki is right there too- in her mouth,  in her hand, or by her side. I'm always asking her to give it up and she usually will, but unless she's happily and busily preoccupied, she'll ask for it again. Although, even during any meal time she wants to have kiki right next to her plate. It's ridiculous.

Playing the keyboard? Can't do it without kiki and mimi(on the chair)!

At her two year well-visit we brought it up with her doctor and he told us not to worry about it because he thinks is a phase that she'll grow out of soon enough. I'm fairly certain it has something to do with a certain little addition to our household. It totally drives us crazy right now because we seriously cannot leave the house without these two things and we have to know where they are at all times as if they are our third and fourth children, but I'm sure it'll be something we look back on and tease Amélie about when she's grown. I'm really hoping that comes sooner than later. =)

Little brother; I'm the big girl with my mimi and my kiki in hand! 

Gosh, I love that girl and baby boy!

Do any of your kids have a security item they can't live without?

1 comment:

estefanick said...

Ha! This isn't funny- but I think it is great that you wrote about this because it is a phase you will want to remember in the future when you have PASSED it! :) My kids both have a blankie that they are very attached to.... Lindsey only needs hers when she is in her bed, but Ryan would like to take his EVERYWHERE. We manage to leave the house about 50% of the time without it, and luckily when it is out of sight is it out of mind. We'll see what happens as he gets older....

Good luck with this!!! I have to agree that I'm sure it is a phase and kudos to you for being so patient! :)