The magical bear suit

Charlotte has a magical bear suit...

Shortly after I found out that I was pregnant, I went to Babies-R-Us, that monopoly of baby periphenalia, most of which has been designed to terrify you into investing three paychecks worth of money into baby proofing supplies and healthy baby trends. I had been there before, when my friends were expecting and I had to make the requisite trip to pick up a present. Navigating the baby registry and the convoluted aisles takes close to a PhD to accomplish successfully.

But this trip was for me... My morning sickness was in full swing and I had heard about this wonderful product called "Preggie Pops" that promised to help relieve my nauseous symptoms. Desperate for relief, I  ventured in...

The "Preggie Pops" were surprisingly easy to find. Picking up the last bag, I decided to wander around the store. I found my way to the clothing section, and then to the clearance rack... Tim and I had decided that we weren't going to find out what we were having, so I knew picking out clothes would be difficult (and at this point, a bit premature!) But I wanted to look anyways.

On the bottom of the rack of boys clothes, I saw a bear suit. I realized that I had seen one of these before. I had been at a doctor's appointment when I saw a woman there with a small child. I never saw the child's face, but he was wearing this exact bear suit. There were little ears on top of the head and little padded feet and I thought this was the most adorable thing I had ever seen... And now I had found the bear suit!

I checked the tag and realized it would be the right size for when winter came around again, so I bought it, took it home and stuck it in my closet. Little did I know how  important this bear suit would be to our little family.

Now, a year later, Charlotte wears this bear suit all the time. After the first few days of dressing her in it to take her places in the cold weather, we realized that she is practically narcoleptic in it. For a baby that never naps, we had finally found the key ingredient to getting her to sleep. Five minutes in the bear suit does the trick...  She will sleep for hours.

Now the phrase, "If you want her to sleep, stick her in the bear suit" accompanies every baby sitter drop off.

As she is getting bigger, I start to wonder what will happen when she outgrows her bear suit. How will we get her to sleep? Maybe I will track down the manufacturer and beg them to create the bear suit in sizes that will fit her well into adulthood! And while I'm at it, I'll buy one for myself too, cause it looks so very comfy!

But until that happens, I'll just enjoy the peaceful moments that settle on our house when she is fast asleep, bundled up in her little, magical bear suit!