Rest in peace, Raf

M has a giraffe-shaped pillow that Aunt Vickie actually gave to K when he was little. For the longest time, it was merely a decoration in the jungle-themed nursery. Some time along the way, M adopted it as his own. It is his pillow, his comfort object, and his don't-even-try-to-put-me-to-bed-without-it lovey. He called it Raf.

Last week, M walked into his preschool class with Raf and walked out without him. Totally out of the blue, he said, "I don't need my Raf anymore. I want to give him to my teacher's baby." And, he did.

I was so proud of him. He did ask for Raf for the first two nights, but I just reminded him that baby Kaylee was snuggled up with Raf at her house and that appeased him.

Well, it turns out that although M was ready to give Raf up, I wasn't. I called the teacher at home and requested that she discreetly return Raf to me. So, he is now washed and carefully tucked away in the top of a closet. Good thing M can't read my blog! Hopefully, by the time he does, he'll forgive me for the deception.

One of my favorite memories of Raf was when M slept in the "bathtub bed" in Doda's RV on a trip to New Braunfels.

Rest in peace, sweet Raf. You served little M well.