Koala Baby

I don't think I have ever officially introduced Koala to this blog. As I was putting up these pictures I was trying to remember when he became such a big part of our lives. He was given to K when she was born, but it's only been since May that he has played such an important role in our family.

~

K has never had a special blanket or toy that she is very attached to...until a few months ago that is. She had just started carrying a little stuffed dog around and she left it at our friend Linda's house (the only reason I can pinpoint the dramatic entrance of Koala) and since I really didn't feel like driving an hour to get the dog back I picked the thing that was most similar for her to sleep with that night, and it just happened to be Koala.

~

They have been inseparable ever since. We MUST have Koala with us at ALL times. The other night we actually left him at Red Lobster when we went out to dinner with some family that was visiting. Those few minutes of backtracking were quite tense. Thankfully we had only gone about half a mile before his disappearance was discovered. It was a good object lesson about how if you don't stay near your mommy you might get lost and left behind. It made more of an impression than any lecturing I have been doing on the subject. :)

~

So for fun I was looking back through the pictures of our summer to see if I could find Koala...a Where's Waldo if you will. There were too many pictures to show but here is a random selection.

~

Koala enjoying a baseball game.

Koala wishing me a Happy Birthday.

Koala on an outing to the city gardens.

Koala at the lake.

And Koala in Canada.

(he didn't need a passport)

So with all the traveling he does you can understand that he gets a mite haggard looking every now and then. Periodically we have to have a "special" day for Koala where he gets to go swimming...in the washing machine that is. We have to make a big production of it.

~

Last week when it was time for a bath K said, "Koala doesn't want to go swimming. He just wants his Mommy." It wasn't easy to convince her that we had put it off long enough and Koala was indeed going swimming. He needed it!

After two swimming trips, with much exclamations of "Whee, he's going around and around!" and "Oh, now the water is going to come back up so he can dive way down!" and "Look how much fun he is having!" He finally came out looking more like an orange Koala and less like a ball of grime.

And, yes, he was very happy to be back with his Mommy.

P.S. K and I were looking back through some of the old blog posts and spotted Koala's foot in this picture of K when she was only 14 months old. Love that little face. :)

P.P.S. K has been sick for the past three days so I think Koala is going to have to have another swimming trip. If I can pry him out of her fevered little hands that is. I hate to think of how many germs are lurking on his soft, orange fur.

*shudder*