You Got A Friend In Me. . .

A girl and her baby dolls. It is like true love and a best friendship. Filled with priceless moments.

For Hannah, her true love and best friend is her doll, Woody. Nothing in the world compares. He is her constant companion. Woody is special because he puts up with a lot. And I mean A LOT! Just look at him! He is FULL of band-aids. . .layers and layers of band-aids, he is dressed in dresses, buried in the snow, dragged across the floor, catapulted down the slide, smothered in hugs and kisses (that's not so bad), stuffed into suitcases and lugged across the country, and he's been dropped and spilled on, coughed on, sneezed on, puked on, and I don't even want to know how many boogers might have found their way onto his boot or shirt! (stop gagging, he is CLEAN! I swear! And with all those water resistant band-aids covering him from head to toe, he is pretty easy to wipe off) He is always there for Hannah . . . in sickness and in health.

Hannah and Woody are in love. That love is not defined, though. It depends on the day, really. Most of the time he is her baby, other times he is her playmate, and other times she proclaims he is her boyfriend and she is going to marry him!

Regardless of the role he is playing in her life at the moment, Woody is one very special guy :) He goes everywhere she goes. . .even the bathroom! A time or two, I've heard cheers and praise coming from the bathroom, where apparently Woody successfully used the potty! He's been to Phoenix, California, Boston, Maine, North Dakota, the White Mountains, on a whale watching boat, the subway, grocery stores, the movies, more Targets than I can count, the zoo, church, parks, an apple orchard, a pumpkin farm, restaurants, beaches, parties. . . Oh! Speaking of parties! Hannah threw Woody a birthday party. Yes, a real party! (a more detailed post on this momentous occasion will be coming soon!). . . you name it! If we've been there or done that, then Woody most likely tagged along.

When he is not being lugged around town or across the country, Hannah is taking care of him. She bathes him. She feeds him. Changes his diapers. Brushes his teeth. Dresses him. . .sometimes in pretty dresses. . .hey, we don't judge and he isn't complaining.

Hannah spends a lot of time fixing Woody's boo boos. Oh, the boo boos. Woody has SO many boo boos! The poor guy is just incredibly accident prone. But lucky for him, Hannah has at least four doctor kits and 10,000 boxes of band-aids to take care of his ailments. Band-aids fix everything from an upset tummy, to bumps and bruises, to stuffy noses. Band-aids are a miracle cure all for Woody! I can't remember what color his skin is? or what his clothes look like, since he is ALWAYS mummified in band-aids! I think we are on layer number three or four by now? Who knows, I lost count.

Woody is such a good sport to don all those band-aids. It looks hilarious, and they spark a lot of conversations from strangers! Everyone wants to know what happened to Woody? Hannah proudly proclaims that he is getting better because she takes such good care of him. :) Who knows!?! Maybe Hannah's love of band-aids and love of making people, pets, and dolls boo boos better will lead her to a profession where she can do the same :) I can see us reminiscing at her graduation from medical school/nursing school/or whatever and laughing about how many band-aids she went through as a toddler! But honestly, I could care less what she wants to do when she grows up, as long as it makes her happy.

I find it interesting that a couple of Woody's major boo boos correlated with family members' boo boos. When Daddy broke his foot and shoulder, Woody had similar boo boos and Hannah made them better. When Papa had knee surgery, she wrapped Woody's knee and made it better. Woody still has a band-aid on his fanny and private area, where he once got diaper rash! (That really dates those boo boos, as Hannah has been potty trained for WELL over a year now and those band-aids are still there!) Woody also gets shots before and after Hannah gets shots at the doctor. Poor Woody gets colds and the stomach flu when she does, as well.

I truly believe Woody is more than just a doll. He is Hannah's faithful companion, and I see how he helps her process things that may be hard for a toddler to comprehend. Tugs at my heart to hear her proclaim Woody's Pop Pop is in heaven, too. Or when he had a broken foot and shoulder like her daddy, or she explains that we need to buy him the wheelchair she saw in the American Doll catalog because he cannot walk like Daddy, or when he had knee surgery like her Papa. As much as I REALLY want to, I guess we cannot wrap Hannah in bubble wrap and shield her from everything in the world. But, it also comforts me that she found an outlet during times when she might be confused or scared for people she loves. Woody is there! Of course we are all there for her, but I find it comforting that she created her own imagination driven outlet to help her process some of her feelings.

As Hannah's mom, I also find it heartwarming to see her care for him so lovingly. It is like a band-aid covered reflection of me and her ;) Watching Hannah lovingly play and care for Woody (all of her other baby dolls, really)--feeding them, dressing them, making them meals and snacks, taking them shopping in her little shopping cart, reading them stories, making them better if they get sick or hurt, and smothering them with hugs and kisses with a smile makes me feel good! I must be doing something right :)

Woody is Hannah's faithful companion. This guy is so special to her! Bless her heart. I am certain he will be there for her and she will be there for him for years to come. . .I am willing to bet she will bring him with her to college :) If Woody is any kind of precursor to what she might choose in a husband some day. . . well I am fully prepared to see a kind, wonderful, caring, loving man (cowboy?) who always has a smile on his face. . .covered head to toe in band-aids, with her name written on the bottom of his boot in permanent marker :) Hopefully she will spare him the boogers and puke ;)

I hope and pray whoever steals my daughter's heart in the future, smothers her with love and happiness . . .and no doubt she will smother that lucky guy, too. . . in band-aids ;)

Now, what you really look for in my posts. . .PHOTOS!

Perhaps all those band-aids shield him from the bitter cold? How else does he keep a smile on his face during all this?

Not to worry. Hannah brought Woody and Jessie inside to warm up. She wrapped them in towels, laid them near the fireplace, and made them warm babas to drink :)

*love*

teaching Woody how to swing after we taught her how to swing on her new swingset

Happy Birthday Woody!!!

Enjoying the Boston Harbor

C'mon Woody! We gotta catch our plane! Hang on tight!!!

Choo choo! Woody gets to be the conductor :)

Woody gets the best seat in the house for story time :)

Where's Woody? See if you can find him. . .

Woody enjoys movie time. . . As for Daddy? I don't think he was enjoying Sleeping Beauty as much as the rest of us were that day ;) Not sure what gives me that idea, but it is just a hunch. . .or is Woody just whispering something silly in Daddy's ear?

Woody sits at the head of the table for every tea party

Woody likes "blue" tea with cream and sugar. . .

dressed in her Jessie cowgirl towel, because she wants to be a cowgirl like Woody

snoozing with a few of her favorite peeps, including Woody and Daddy

Woody in a Phoenix hotel after seeing Sesame Street Live (no we didn't need to buy him a ticket)

Dressed as Jessie to go see Toy Story 3 as soon as it came out! She was SOOOO excited! Woody came along and sat with her for the movie, of course :)

On their way to do something fun

Hannah's 3rd birthday party had to be a Woody/Toy Story 3 theme :)

Woody and our Goofy kid asleep in the stroller at Disneyland

An autograph from WOODY!!! She STILL talks about this incident and laughs. She thinks it is hilarious that he signed her book on her head.

One of Hanah's favorite photos

Woody is all better!

Just a few more band-aids. . .

That should do it!

Woody jammies

Getting Woody ready for bed, including brushing his teeth

Woody at the doctor. . .

Snuggles

**Just because the whole band-aid thing is just too amusing. . .I had to go back to when it all started. . .Daddy and I take full responsibility for feeding her "habit"

Click on that link to see where it all began. Grover still has most of those band-aids on him. His fur is very unforgiving. . . :)