Kiran's Babies

I just spent 30 minutes trying to sooth my crying toddler. We had completed all of our usual nighttime activities without a hitch. Visit the potty, take a bath, put on pajamas, family devotions, mommy time, daddy time, and lights out. But she could not be consoled. She wanted her babies.

This is Baby Colleen.

Most people think it's funny when I tell them that Kiran's first doll, a gift from Grandmum and Granda, is named Colleen. We didn't pick that name. We actually chose the name for her second doll, Baby Gigi, which was a gift from Aunt Elisabeth and Uncle Scott. This is what Baby Gigi used to look like when she was new.

Baby Gigi was named first. Poor Baby Colleen was nameless and ignored for the longest time while Baby Gigi languished in the storage pile under Kiran's crib. I guess Kiran just wasn't ready for dolls the entire time Baby Colleen sat in the corner of her crib. But one day around six months ago, Kiran discovered Baby Gigi's box. She brought it to me with a gleeful look and demanded, "ahpen it". As soon as Baby Gigi was released, Kiran gave her a big hug and said, "mah baby". Since she had finally chosen to bond with a lovey, we figured it had to be personalized. We chose the name Gigi because that was what Kiran was calling herself at the time. She was substituting g's for k's, calling herself Gigi instead of Kiki. Once Baby Gigi became special to her, Baby Colleen got included in the lovefest. Oh yeah. How did she get the name Colleen? A few weeks after Baby Gigi was named, I asked Kiran if her other doll had a name. "Yeah!" she exclaimed. When I asked her the name, she said something that sounded like "Kelleen!". Kelly? "No, Kelleen!". Kaitlyn (her cousin)? "No, Kelleen!" Keilah (another cousin)? "KEL-LEEN!". Then it dawned on me. She was telling me the name of one of her teachers in the daycare. So Baby Colleen joined the family.

It's been fun to watch her care for her babies. Sometimes she'll sit one of them in Jackson's chair at the dining table.

"Baby Gigi. Eating." She'll tell us. "Kiki. Happy."


She loves her babies enough to give them her favorite seat to watch TV (which, of course, happens on extremely rare occasions - the TV watching, not the sacrificial service).

"Baby. TV. Cold. Binket."


And she'll check on her baby occasionally.

"Ah-kay, baby? Ah-kay? Happy? TV?"


Ian and I get a kick out of it.

Except on nights like tonight. When Baby Gigi is at school waiting for Kiki for her daytime nap and Baby Colleen is lost, last seen stuffed into a shoebox by a rambunctious, imaginative older brother. And little mommy is despondent that she doesn't have a baby to hug to sleep.

Fortunately, the big brother understands her plight and will bring her alternate animals to try out and sing songs to try to make her happy once it's clear that big mommy's attempts aren't working.