The Thunder Rolls

Some of you might remember a post from probably a year or so ago that talked about Ben's security objects "Lovey" and "Albus." Lovey is this strange floating bear head in the middle of a blanket that Ben has been obsessed with since he was a few months old. Albus is a white dog with blue spots that Brian named because he looked like a "Rufus" but was decidedly albino, so he became "Albus." Well since that post, Ben has inherited a third security object named "Pos." Where did this strange name come from you might ask? We bought Pos before Ben went to daycare because we wanted him to have something there that reminded him of home during his nap time. So Pos is basically Lovey #2 which Brian has named "Impostor Lovey." While Ben's vocabulary has expanded rapidly over the past few months, "impostor lovey" is still beyond his reach, so he simply calls him "Pos."

Over the past year Ben has grown more and more attached to this gang of three. He reaches for them when he is put in the crib and is often clutching them in the morning when we walk in to get him. He takes him downstairs each morning and holds them while having morning bottle and generally likes to have one somewhere nearby throughout the day. I admit that I truly hope he doesn't feel the need to have them stuffed in his backpack on the first day of school, jammed in the center console the first time he takes the wheel or cleverly hidden in the jacket pocket the first time he asks a girl out. While I hope he is someday able to give them up with ease, it makes me happy that he has tangible things that make him feel comfortable and secure. Of course he has Brian and I and his other family and friends who love him and who he is safe with but he already is developing a concept of dependence and need. He is realizing already that his sense of security comes from something other than himself. Today when the thunder boomed over our house, he immediately turned to them in his fear and confusion about the noise.

This past Sunday in church we sang "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" with the beautiful words "Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms. Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms." My hope and prayer, is that this realization will continue to grow and develop into a profound sense of security and dependence on one who is far greater and far more reliable than three stuffed animals. That he will develop an understanding and turn to him in his times of greatest need and times when he needs something to hold on to.