Halloween and Hoof

Jonah was a race car driver for Halloween. It was the first time he actually wanted to wear a hat (other than any hat I'm wearing, that is). We didn't trick-or-treat, and in fact didn't even have trick-or-treaters. Just not the right neighborhood for that, I guess. But Jonah got to go to two different Halloween parties and wear his costume to a couple of different classes. And, of course, he wore it around the house. Here, Jonah is in full costume, complete with car and the most important accessory for any race car driver -- a stuffed lamb.

Hoof was named by my wife one day when we just decided that this was going to be Jonah's attachment object. Hoof has survived now for probably close to a year of Jonah actually noticing him. He's been through many wash cycles and has had an eye job.

Okay, I have to admit that Hoof is actually a set of triplets. We realized not too long after Jonah started to hang on to Hoof that we needed some back up Hoofs for situations involving pee pee beds (diapers do leak sometimes), blood, snot, and mud. Hoof gets a sub every few weeks. Michele and I don't know if Jonah has caught on to this yet, although we have had some close calls where Hoof magically teleported from room to room. Jonah looks at him kind of funny when in the course of a diaper change (and some quick action from mom) gray, smelly Hoof becomes pink and fresh again.

The concept of a "lovey" that a child can focus on fascinates me. How did my son get so attached to this thing? I had my stuffed animals growing up, too, so I can relate. (Teddy still lives in my nightstand, 37+ years old, broken music box, band-aids, and all.) At home, Jonah and Hoof are rarely separated for more than the duration of a meal. When Hoof is hiding somewhere, Jonah walks around, searching, saying "Fffff. Fffff." It's really amazing to see so much love.