First Comes Baby...: A Tale of Two Floppys

So at a little over four months old my daughter is already in love... meet 'Floppy Bear'.

Floppy came to us attached to a pair of pajamas. Little did I know that Aurora would be fixated on it within a few days. The first time I gave it to her, I assumed that it would be looked at for a few seconds and then tossed aside like the majority of her toys but instead she assumed a death grip on it and immediately stuck one of it's ears in her mouth! This was no fluke either... every time she sees this silly toy her eyes light up and an arm or that ear is in her mouth within seconds. She LOVES it. And like most of her things it is covered in drool and regurgitated formula more often than not.

SO... I decided that maybe a second Floppy was in order. Come to find out, you can't find her anywhere!!!

I found giraffes, horses, bunnies, cats but no more 'Floppy Bears'. If you go to the Vitamins website it lists 2 packs of these blanket buddies for $20(plus S&H) and even those bears are a different print. Really? It was included with her PJs for free! Someone has caught on to the fact that babies love these silly things. They really are the perfect combination of stuffed animal and blanket scrap. I had looked into the 'loveys' that are all over the internet... you know the creepy blankets with a stuffed animal head in the middle? But I couldn't bring myself to get her one. The idea of her carrying around a decapitated bear/bunny/duck/giraffe/whatever's head sewed onto a giant fuzzy petrie dish for an indefinite period of time was a little too much for me. This little bear/blankie hybrid however is all of the cute and none of the creepy. That being said was I really willing to pay $10 each to keep her in fresh ones till she grows out of this stage? Especially considering they were originally afterthoughts attached to only moderately cute but generously overpriced pajamas?

On one hand this little love affair has been going on for quite awhile now:

On the other hand, she's so young!
I'm reasonably sure that if Floppy disappeared she would barely notice... but as with most things lately, she fixates... I fixate. Images of Floppys danced through my dreams until I was pretty sure I would break down and pay $28 for two of the silly things and some rest. Then I started to wonder if a different blanket buddy would work just as well... there had to be more out there. So I started scouring the internet. Most of the outfits with buddies attached went for $19 (See? Too much right?) which was silly since I could just buy two buddies for $20. Then I found it! Someone on Ebay selling a lot of girls baby clothes, including not just a blankie buddy but the outfit AND a pair of my favorite baby 'jamas (Childrens Place 'stretchies'... they fit her better than any others) the starting bid? A whopping 99 cents! Finally someone who didn't realize just how valuable these little guys are! With shipping I paid around nine dollars for a buddie, a two piece pair matching pajamas, an awesome pair of my favorite PJs (the ones in the following photos), TWO onsies and a bib!! Take that! (Don't worry, I'm willing to teach my bargain hunting ways to anyone wanting to learn)
The package arrived and I noticed that the horse version had a bigger head and smaller ears. I presented it to Aurora for her approval hoping the difference wouldn't matter: