I love seeing people's pictures and videos of their dogs watching over their babies. Those of you who have been following this blog for a while probably recall my wonderings about whether Baldur has returned to keep an eye on Elianna ( https://www.iveyink.com/blog/2020/1/31/seeing-baldurs-shadow ).
I haven't talked about the Baldur/Elianna connection recently (and, let's be honest - I haven't blogged much at all this year)... but it's still there. We have a pillow on the couch that my mom made for us several years ago, with Baldur's picture on it. (We have one of Athena, too.)
As some of you know, Elianna was a very fussy baby for a long time. There were many times that we were at our wits end trying to comfort her. Something that always helped - without fail - was to give her that Baldur pillow.
Elianna's better now - much more cheerful. It's rare that she gets so upset that we have to resort to the Baldur pillow. But now we have a second option. For her birthday, Elianna's Granny gave her a little stuffed Baldur toy that she made (using the same picture as the pillow). Opening up her presents, seeing a little miniature Baldur for her to hold, Elianna's face just lit up as she grabbed him and waved him around.
Now her little Baldur stays in the crib, down at the foot of the bed where he can watch over her. But often if I lay her down and she's not ready to nap, or when she wakes up from her nap, she will crawl down to the end of the crib and grab her Baldur, snuggling with him and waving him around. The first time she did this, Jason thought he heard something and peeked at the monitor. Seeing Elianna's back and the back of her head, he assumed she was still curled up asleep. But as he watched, she sat up and, with Baldur turned precisely so his little face was looking straight at the camera, she snuggled her new favorite toy to her face.
It's obviously not the same as still having him with us, but in a way, it is nice that Elianna still has her brother to comfort her.
Elianna and her brother.
“Well, son of a Baldur!”