Elmo

On Sunday we had my parents give birthday presents to Corwin and Conrad in a small joint birthday ceremony. One of the gifts that Conrad got was a Tickle Me Elmo that Mom had bought a couple of years ago, but didn't give away. Corwin is a big Elmo fan and was very happy to play with Conrad's new toy. When bedtime came around, Corwin was asking where Elmo was. I didn't know off of the top of my head, but I said that he's sleeping in Conrad's room, because Elmo is Conrad's toy and I didn't want Corwin taking too much posetion of him. That's cool with Corwin. OK, off to bed.

Around half and hour after bedtime, I hear desperate crying coming from Corwin's room. I go into check on him. First I ask him if he bonked himself as he does sometimes while playing after bedtime. He tells me, through his tears that no he hasn't bonked himself. He says he's scared of the alligator. Alligators are the only thing at the zoo that sometimes scare him. I tell him it's OK, nothing to worry about, but he is still crying and sobbing in a way I'd never seen him do before. He's really freaked out. Anke thinks that we should take him to the living room where it's brighter to remove him from the traumatic situation. I'm holding him, hugging him in the living room when he says, "Elmo's in Trunki!"

Trunki is a small blue suit case on wheels with a pull strap that can be pulled and is sturdy enough for Corwin to ride around on. Corwin wanted Elmo to ride on Trunki, but Elmo didn't stay on Trunki so well. Anke helped Corwin open Trunki and put Elmo inside. We had forgotten where Elmo was. It seems that Corwin had remembered and was really scared for Elmo. Anke rushed off to Corwin's room to rescue Elmo.

Corwin hugged Elmo and through his tears insisted that we take him to Conrad's room. So we put Elmo in Conrad's crib and Corwin was ready for bed again. It touches and pleases me that Corwin is growing into a loving, caring person.