You Can't Fool a One Year Old

What do all the above picture have in common? Notice the furry red thing that Maia is holding in all of them. That is her "Bah- Boo" (Elmo doll). That thing is probably so germ infested that if CPS ever got their hands on it, they would take my children away from me just because I allow my daughter to sleep with that nasty doll. Bah-boo was bought for Noah by his grandma about 8 or 9 months ago but gradually Maia began to take more interest in it and it went everywhere with her. I've run over it with the stroller quite a few times after it has fallen on the ground, it has had many different types of food and drink including milk spilled on it, it has been thrown up on, and it has come into contact with a pee diaper. Have I washed it? Well, when I looked at the tag it said "surface washable only" which to me means I can only wipe it down with a towel which will do absolutely nothing except add more germs. My other reason for not washing it is that Maia loves it so much because of the smell. Every time she goes to bed she grabs Bah-boo's hand puts it up to her nose and sticks her thumb in her mouth and she is out like a light in no time. If I wash it, she might not ever sleep again because she obviously finds the smells of vomit, sour milk, and pee soothing. Last week, I even tried buying a duplicate doll to see if she would take it. NOPE! She wanted nothing to do with it.

Today, I finally decided that it was time to wash the nasty doll. During our river trip it had fallen on the floor of the casino and had picked up a bit a cigarette ash smell and I felt guilty letting my daughter sleep with that unwashed thing any longer. It came out of the dryer with it's fur all clumped together, it's eyes scraped off, and smelling fresh and clean. At nap time, I crossed my fingers, put her in her crib and put both the clean Bah-boo and the duplicate Bah boo next to her. She immediately went for the newly washed one, grabbed its hand, put it up to her nose, got a confused look on her face, tried again, held the doll up to me and said, "Uh-oh mommy!" SHOOT! I tried to look like I had no clue what she was talking about and gave her the duplicate one, she already knew that trick so she just tossed him aside held up the newly cleaned one and began to frantically repeat, "Uh-oh mommy!" I said, "Good night" closed the door and prayed that she would just settle for the made-over Bah boo. No such luck. She eventually cried herself to sleep with both Bah boos tossed to the opposite side of the crib. I just pray that tonight goes over better. I am tempted to pour some milk on the doll and leave it outside for a few hours just to bring the smell back.