The Miracle of the New Corner

Bug was just a tiny baby when we received a small, soft, square sort of mini-blanket with a teddy bear head on it as a gift. Somehow, the snuggly was immediately dubbed Wubby. (I'm not sure how to explain the pronunciation for that. Wubby sort of rhymes with whoopsie, not nubby. Is that helpful? Does it matter?) Anyway, I kept Wubby in Bug's crib pretty much right from the beginning. At first, she didn't seem to show much of an interest, although I suppose it's rather difficult to demonstrate interest without voluntary control of your limbs.

When she was very small, Paddy and I smiled when we saw an identical Wubby at Ross for $4.99.

 Oh cute, we thought. There's a brand new Wubby just like Bug's!

We were oblivious to it at the time, but that was the moment we made a crucial first-time parent mistake. We left without the new Wubby.

As Bug grew, she fell madly, deeply in love for the first time. You guessed it; Wubby was the sole target of her heart's desire. She loves Wubby. Here's the thing, though, toddler love equals item in mouth equals slobbery mess equals dirty.

This terrible formula of germs is especially true in Wubby's case, because, for whatever reason, Bug has chosen only one of the four corners as the particular point of her affection. One corner. The same corner every. single. time. It's disgusting. Want proof?

If that hair doesn't crack you up, you aren't human. But the point is The Corner. I'm not sure what the inital selection process entailed, exactly, and it doesn't much matter. The Corner has been established. Bug grabs her Wubby, even when she is nearly completely asleep, and deftly spins Wubby around until she identifies The Corner. Corner goes up, thumb goes in, and we have one happy Bug.

We soak it in Clorox 2 and follow it up with a heavy wash on the hot cycle at least once a week, but the darn thing is permanently an embarrassing shade of gross. Trust me, the smell of The Corner is pretty awful, too, like a sour dish rag. I'm telling you what, this motherhood business is humbling.

So anyway, we were getting desperate. We scoured every T.J. Maxx in the valley, and I even looked in California when I was there in January. No luck. We checked Babies R Us. We managed to find Wubby online, but were unwilling to pay $27 for a one foot by one foot snuggly. We cursed ourselves for the missed golden opportunity. I was even starting to consider cutting off the dirty corner on an angle and re-hemming it, just for health concerns. You know, mold.

Two days ago, we were out and about with the Bug doing a little shopping when I spotted a similar, though not identical, Wubby on a display rack. We snatched it, and then rushed to the back of the store toward the baby section, not daring to believe our luck. There, hanging on a rack where we had surely looked before, was not one, but TWO identical new Wubbys. For $4.99, plus, get this, BUY ONE GET ONE FREE. I nearly did a cartwheel, and I can't do a cartwheel.

Here is Old Wubby introducing New Wubby to the good life:

 This comparison horrifies me.

I need to tell you that this picture was taken mere hours after Wubby had been freshly washed. So gross.

Anyway, you should have seen the look on our little Bug's face at the prospect of NEW WUBBYS! Can you even imagine that there could be MORE THAN ONE WUBBY!? She was dizzy with joy.

A pile of Wubbys

And that is the story the best day of Bug's life. Now we're just waiting to see if she chooses the same corner this go 'round. Also, we're keeping the old one because, you know, blackmail.