Daxton's Entourage

I have heard of some kids who have a favorite toy that they have to take with them everywhere. Dax has really been my only kid (so far) who has really carried toys around. He has carried his cat around with him off and on over the past few months, but it wasn't an every day thing until recently.

The cat doesn't bother me.

It is all of the cat's friends.

About a month or so ago Daxton decided that he had to have an ENTIRE POSSE of toys with him nearly 24 hours a day. This is NOT a small group of friends. This is a full-on ENTOURAGE. The key members of Dax's peeps include:

1. His cat (who is named "Tat")
2. A great big panda bear (who is named "Tanda")
3. A great big stuffed lion (who is named "Wion")
4. A large stuffed teddy bear (who is named "Bear")
5. A little pig toy (who is named "Piddy")
6. A plastic dinosaur toy (who is named "Dine-for")

As you can see, Dax is not the most creative toy-namer ever. But what he lacks in creativity he makes up for in loyalty. This key group of hangers-on are sometimes joined by other toys, but these six are the core group that Dax must keep around at ALL TIMES.

Dax wedges each and every one of these toys into his bed and then somehow crams himself in with them every single night and every single naptime. How he ever gets to sleep I have no idea.

In the morning, if I try to take him out of his room without bringing his ENTIRE crew, he lets me know that it is unacceptable in no uncertain terms. So, we have developed a system. Every morning, Dax hands me his friends one by one ("Mom, hold a Wion! Mom, hold a Tanda! Mom, hold a Tat!" you get the idea). I get the honor of being the transportation for the entourage since Dax can't carry them all down the stairs to breakfast and hold on to the handrail at the same time. It sometimes gets a little tricky even for me since I have to hold ALL of these creatures in one hand while trying to hold Cora in the other. Once we finally make it down the stairs, I will put these toys NOT on the couch or floor. I must pile them on a kitchen chair so that they may watch their leader consume his oatmeal at close range.

When Dax goes back upstairs for a nap, his buddies go with him. When nap is over, the toys follow wherever Dax may go. Despite much whining and complaining, his posse is confined to the house. There is no way they would all fit in the car. Dax has tried to take them nearly everywhere else with him, including the bathtub (luckily I caught him before the cat got in the tub...I don't want to have to buy cat #3 already!)

I thought it was just a phase that Dax would quickly get tired of, but it has been a few weeks now and he is still going strong.

Looks comfy, doesn't he? Night-night Dax.