Lamby's Homecoming

We've been checking daily for the return of Lamby.  After Ainsley received word that she should be arriving "just as soon as the winds were right" we've been on pins and needles around here.  The new routine before naps and bedtimes was to check the fireplace and front porch for signs of Lamby.  "No Lamby yet Ainsley girl!  The winds must not have changed yet.  She'll come home when it's time."

Somehow Lamby knew the perfect time to arrive.  Just as the sun broke through for the first time in two days, just as dinner was finished and baths were underway.  We descended from bathtime, squeaky clean am all jammied up, and went about the business of searching for signs of Lamby.  No lamby on the front porch.  No Lamby in the fireplace.  Shall we try the back porch tonight?

And lo and behold.  There sat Lamby.  Curiously clean and extra soft from her stay in the clouds, clutching a bright red umbrella and a bedazzled tiny purse that held, could it be? the very note that Ainsley had written and ripped up and thrown in the fireplace just days ago.  It felt miraculous, mostly to Ainsley, but a little bit to all of us.

But the best part?  The reunion wasn't all that dramatic.  After an ecstatic hello and a few cheesy photos (and a sweet video I'll upload once Ian's awake from naptime) life returned instantly to normal.  Well, to normal for Ainsley and Lamby.  "Oh Lamby, I've missed you so much, let's go play dress up!  Ooh!  I have to show you all your friends!  They've missed you too!" Ainsley and lamby talked and talked right up to bedtime and beyond. Ainsley using her sweet tiny Lamby voice and her own little girl happy sing song in tandem.  It dawned on me that she doesn't do this with any other toy.  No other toy has a voice to her, just Lamby.

We're so glad you're back Lamby!  and don't you worry.  We'll never lose you again.

*Just to clarify, we did not ever find the "real" lamby.  I am still a bit sad about that. I ended up ordering a new one online when none of our local shops had one in stock (oh and trust me I tried to find it close!).  Thankfully Lamby arrived in 2 business days and Ainsley has easily accepted that she is so clean and soft thanks to her brief stay in the clouds and all that cotton candy she must have eaten.