Ode to Kaloo

What is a Kaloo you ask? Why, it is that little guy you see my son holding in the picture. You cannot see it very well, but it is this thing that looks like a washcloth, has a bear head and little hands and feet. It is also a puppet. It is, in French, called a doudou or small security blanket. Our friend Diana gave it to Cooper when he was born. It is now THE item of comfort. He must have it to go bed, and often wants it with him at other times of the day. He has not become attached to a blanket, or stuffed animal. He is attached to Kaloo.

This actually the brand name of the item. We are terribly inventive in our house with naming items. He has several stuffed bears, two of which are blue. They are Blue Bear and Fluffy Blue Bear. Although Blue Bear has also been called Opera Bear because he has been known to sing opera at the breakfast table. Then there is Yellow Guy which is actually a webkinz but I don't know what its name is. We also have Pig, Ellie the elephant, Froggy and Kaloo 2.

See, when we realized Cooper was attached to the original Kaloo, we decided we needed a back up Kaloo. Of course I could not find the exact same one, so we bought a different one. Which is absolutely, unconditionally, with out a shadow of a doubt NOT an acceptable replacement for the original. Cooper is 100% sure of this. Just try giving him Kaloo 2 instead of Kaloo. Nope. It will be discarded, thrown aside like yesterdays banana peel, and much wailing and gnashing of teeth occurs until the original is produced.

You can buy other Kaloo products besides the doudou. There are stuffed animals, blankets, even perfume. PERFUME. Whatever. I have shopped at this website http://www.minimishka.com/servlet/StoreFront and try to give a Kaloo to anyone who is having a baby. I just wish I could find one that looks exactly like our original. I dread the day it gets misplaced or disolves in the washing machine.