Sophia's 'Bah' Crisis

OK, everyone get ready!
Last week during Tropical Storm Fay.. one of the rainy days, we went to lunch with some friends. We went to a little cafe on Main Street, somewhere we love going. We loaded up; Troy brought his blanket, Sophia brought her 'Bah' and off we went for lunch.

'Bah' is an old beanie baby sheep that was mine or maybe my sister's when we were kids. Sophia has appropriately named it 'Bah'. 'Bah' and 'Ellie' are good friends and 'Bah' is almost as important as 'Ellie' we usually don't leave the house without one of them. While one stays in Sophia's bed and waits for the other to come home. -According to Sophia.

Anyway, on this day she chose to have 'Bah' come out to the cafe with us. 'Ellie' doesn't like rain. Lunch was a bit hectic as we were running late and it was close to nap time. Upon arriving home with two exhausted babies Sophia realized 'Bah' was gone. I called my friend who was still at the cafe, she said she was going to take 'Bah' home with her and I could pick it up. I told her I'd come get 'Bah' when they got up from their naps; depending on the weather, it was getting blustery outside as this was the day the storm was making its second pass over Central Florida.

I was rather nervous as to how I was going to get Sophia asleep without 'Bah', we weren't even in the house and she was already crying about it. Troy was already asleep and I really wanted to get some housework done while they napped. I carried Troy in and put him in his bed. Now, to deal with Sophia and her complete breakdown over the disappearance of 'Bah'. At this point she was under her covers in her bed with 'Ellie' telling 'Ellie' that 'Bah' was gone. She said they were both crying because they missed 'Bah'. I laid with her and explained that we would pick up 'Bah' from Mrs. Meg's house after she woke up from her nap. She understood but continued to cry herself to sleep. I felt horrible. Not much housework was done as she couldn't sleep without 'Bah'... she slept for about an hour and woke up crying saying she and 'Ellie' missed 'Bah'. When Troy got up we loaded up with all of Sophia's animals into the van as they were all going to go find 'Bah'.. no lie, we had about 7 stuffed animals that she insisted on bringing with us, they all missed 'Bah'. The wind was picking up and it was only going to get worse as the evening came. I called Meg and told her I was close and I was going to just run in and get 'Bah' and leave because it was getting yucky out. Sophia was tickled by every landmark we saw that would mean we were closer to getting 'Bah' back.

My cell phone rang, it was Meg. Bad news. 'Bah' was gone. Not in her diaper bag, not in her car, not in her house, totally gone. She called the restaurant, closed. She called some other girls that were with us at the cafe. No 'Bah'. Oh God give me strength. How am I going to explain that after all this we aren't going to come home with 'Bah'. I turned the car around.. I must have drove to every little shop that I could possibly imagine would carry beanie babies. No one had 'Bah'. I didn't think they would... like I said I had her years ago. We drove to Bealls who I knew carried beanie babies. Come to find out 'Bah' originally named 'Ewey' was retired in 1992. At this point I was trying to explain to Sophia that Mrs. Meg didn't have 'Bah'... crying she told me how 'Bah' was lost and scared somewhere out in the world. She was beside herself in tears. It broke my heart. I would have done anything to find this lost sheep. I was telling Sophia that we were on an expedition to find 'Bah'. Bealls had lots of beanie babies, even a few sheep, but not like 'Bah'.. I thought if I found another one I could hid it in the clothes and tell her 'Bah' found us! It didn't work out that way. We did find a distraction in three of the cutest beanie babies I have ever seen... the Wonder Pets; Linny, Tuck, and Ming Ming! They were so cute! I told Sophia we could take them home with us and they could keep her company until 'Bah' came home.

At this point I was certain I would be ordering a replacement 'Bah' on Amazon.com and heading to the cafe first thing in the morning to see if they had recovered 'Bah'. She was hesitant about not finding 'Bah' but happy to have the Wonder Pets. On the way home we sang the Wonder Pets theme song about saving the baby 'Bah'... reminder:we drove home during a tropical storm. At this point the wind and rain were so bad they were blowing the doors of the department store open and all but two workers had gone home. They were probably thinking I was a nut, out with two babies, in a tropical storm, purchasing beanie babies. Not to mention I was wearing pajama pants and a tank top with my hair in a knot on my head, as I thought I was just driving to Meg's and back home.

We got home safely and Sophia was happy until bedtime when she cried again that 'Bah' was lost in the rain. The Wonder Pets snuggled up to her and they eventually went to sleep without 'Bah'. I ordered a 'Bah' from amazon which was shipped the next day. I got up that morning and drove to the cafe. Again, two kids, 7 animals and the wonder pets to see if 'Bah' was there. The restaurant was closed due to the storm- should have known. UGH!! No luck! I told Sophia that 'Bah' would come home soon... as I knew a new 'Bah' was being shipped to our house.

The storm delayed the mail but luckily the new 'Bah', which Sophia thinks is the original 'Bah' arrived last night. Tony came home with a package and I knew exactly what it was I quickly ripped the tag off of 'Bah' and gave Sophia the package. I told her it was from the Wonder Pets.
She reached in.. out popped 'Bah'.

The happiest child I have ever seen. She hugged Tony, hugged me, said 'Thank you Everyone'.. she hasn't let go of 'Bah' since. She cried.. she really cried happy tears. I didn't know a child could do that. They were the sweetest most beautiful tears in the whole world. Last night was the first night she slept the night through since 'Bah' went missing.

Hurray!! Now, I am going to have to call that cafe and see if they have the other 'Bah' so that I have a second just in case anything like this ever happens again. Yes, a new 'Ellie' is on the way as well from Amazon.com as well. 'Ellie' is really named 'Sprinkles'. Who knew!?

Oh, and now we have plenty of animals to keep track of... "Ellie", "Bah", "Linny", "Tuck", and "Ming Ming"