This is Bah. You have probably seen Bah in the millions of pictures we post of Payton. She is almost always holding him. Yes, it is a boy. Not sure why Bah is a boy, but it is.
Before you make a mistake, Bah is not a bunny, he is a puppy. I think looking straight at him, you can tell, but from the side, people see the floppy ears and think bunny.
You may be curious as to the name. I honestly do not know why Payton calls him Bah. I think it started as one of the sounds she said and she always said it in regards to her stuffed puppy. For the longest time, we all referred to it as Puppy. Not sure if that was her very first attempts at saying Puppy (she can now say puppy, so it is not like a word that she is unable to pronounce). Anyways, it stuck and that is his name.
Payton has a pretty strong bond with Bah. She sleeps with him every night and usually sucks her thumb while holding his ear. When she is upset, she likes to hold Bah.
It is definitely cute to see her with a stuffed animal. I try to not think about the fact that she is probably a bit over-attached to it. She will have a major tantrum or meltdown if she does not have Bah.
The other night Lindsey was trying to give Payton a bath, who was screaming for Bah before she was even in the tub. Once she was in the water, she started bawling and crying hard enough that she was having troubles breathing. I went downstairs to get Bah, thinking maybe if she saw him, she would calm down. Nope. It just got worse, she kept trying to climb out of the tub, she was barely breathing. I was so annoyed that I ended up tossing Bah to her and he got a bath. She was happy then, but not so happy when she was ready for bed and Bah had to go in the dryer.
Whenever we go somewhere, we have to make sure to grab Bah. OR at least Lindsey makes sure we grab Bah. If I take Payton somewhere, I may bring him if I know she may fall asleep, but usually I leave him here. However, Lindsey will take Bah in the car when she has to take Payton to daycare in the morning. This caused Payton to freak out one morning, so Lindsey allowed her to carry Bah upstairs, but tried to take him when they got to the door. The daycare said she could bring him inside. They said she did not have the best of days…
I had to be the bad guy the next day though. I told Lindsey that we should not take Bah to daycare. We are just creating more problems. I get that Payton uses Bah to calm herself, but I hate always giving in and giving her what she wants. How will she learn that she cannot always get way if no one ever says “no, you cannot take Bah into the pool” or “no, we are not taking Bah to Rey Azteca.”
Before you tell me how awful I am for denying my child her stuffed animal. Allow me to point out that when Payton is with me all day, Bah stays in the crib all day. She barely mentions him (if she does, it is when she is tired and I know that she is ready for a nap or for bedtime).
Also, this post is by no means a criticism of Lindsey’s parental skills. We have both argued our points about this and she has looked up information about kids who carry a stuffed animal. Lindsey is by no means a pushover or anything like that. Sometimes she is the disciplinarian and I am the one saying “oh, she is fine, let her do that.”
It is funny, writing this out, I realize I am probably wrong in this circumstance. Shhhh….do not tell Lindsey. She rarely reads all of my posts.
