My little Linuses

It's amazing what makes children feel secure. Some suck thumbs (like Violet*) or fingers. Others have a special stuffed animal or blanket. We have two blankie addicts in our family. Dash has always had one special blanket. We had others that were the exact same blanket only different colors, but he always new which blankie was "the one." The other interesting thing about his blankie addiction is that ever since he was a baby, he has held onto the edge of the blanket with the tag. Now, six years later, that side of the blanket is well worn and unraveling. Fortunately, my mother is able to mend the edge enough to hold it together and keep him happy. Once upon a time he took the blanket everywhere, but now it stays at home.

We learned our lesson when we realized Jack was going to be a blanket lover, so we bought another blanket that was exactly the same -- color and style. And we've always used both so we avoid any major meltdowns when one is missing. While Dash holds the tag side of the blanket up to his face as he sucks his thumb, Jack chews on his blanket. Actually, he shoves as much of the material in his mouth as he can. He gave up his pacifier a while ago, but the blankie is still hanging around.

I'm not sure what will be Baby's special quirk. He likes shoving his blanket or any nearby material into his mouth when he's not sucking on a pacifier or his thumb.

Although all my kids look strangely alike, they all have different personality traits. Even though I'm not always sure I will survive various phases, I'm still having fun. One day they will be searching for their own children's blankies or pacifiers, and I will be enjoying the next stage in my life.

*Although I'm sure I will manage to embarrass my children several times throughout their childhood, I do not plan to do it intentionally. Therefore, I have decided not to use their real names. Since they like to pretend we are a family of superheroes, I have given them the names of the Incredible family -- of course they only had three kids, so Baby is going to be Baby for now.