Everyone knows Ella loves her blanket but the other thing she loves almost as much and provides her with unspeakable comfort is her soother... or what ever that thing is called. Even before she was born, when I had a tough time falling asleep while pregnant with her I would turn it on, listen to the music and just try to relax. Then she was born and it became a signal it was time to go to sleep. She grew a little and began hitting the button by herself until she would fall into a peaceful sleep. She kept on growing and the soother became part of her night life where she would wake up in the middle of the night, jump up and down in her crib, laugh gleefully and continue pressing the button until the party was over. There was a time we had to replace the batteries once a month. She continued to grow, lost the crib and then moved into a regular bed and once that was under control, I slipped the soother into retirement. Well, I really hid it in our closet.
Time passed by and I wanted to throw the thing away, especially since one of the screws in the back could no longer be screwed in since the threads were worn out. I never ended up thowing it away because I wanted to blog about it so Ella could remember it but yet I never got around to taking a picture of it which resulted in no post. Now and then Ella would spot it, look at it lovingly and wonder why I would not bring it back into her room.
The past few weeks Ella mentioned nightmares she had and lately has become fixated on them. The poor girlie girl is not getting enough sleep and I worry about her. Yesterday after church, I was talking to her about something, the soother was mentioned and the thought came to my mind that it might help her with the nightmares. We went into the office, Ella lovingly picked it up and then we went on a search for batteries. We ended up finding some in a fishy game and Ella was super duper excited. She waited patiently while I changed over batteries and kept asking if she could touch it. When I gave the all clear, she pressed the button, we heard the music and she began to relax. She replied, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH Now I can go to sleep." We did not hook it up until Leia was up from her nap but once it was a permanent fixture again in her room, she was content. The soother is so well loved and used that it is not completely functional anymore. All the little animals no longer move. All that works is the music and lights but Ella was fine by that.
This morning was the big test... Nightmares?.... no! The first thing I heard was loud laughter. It was music to my ears. Let's hope the soother continues where it left off and Ella can once again drift off into quality sleep... without the late night parties.
