old country house blog

BLANKIES, LOVIES and the LOVIE PORTRAITS

I am currently decorating a shared bedroom for two very young sisters. I LOVE decorating kids rooms!!!…It takes me back and makes me nostalgic for my babies….and their LOVIES.

PHOEBE'S "OLD" ROOM - Photo taken by John Petersik of Young House Love for our HOUSE CRASH
PHOEBE’S ROOM – Photo taken by John Petersik of Young House Love for our HOUSE CRASH

“LOVIES” aka “transitional objects”  . My Mom said I had a yellow satin-edged blanket as a baby/toddler, it went everywhere I went.  There were many stories of trips made BACK from whence we came when my “blankie” was accidentally left behind.

NEW EVERY MORNING LITTLE GIRLS ROOM
NEW EVERY MORNING LITTLE GIRLS ROOM
great shared room!!! Southern living design Idea House!
great shared room!!! Southern living design Idea House! My boys would have a load of fun with these oars!!! Might skip those although – I do like the look of them!

You never know what your child will choose as their LOVIE. Tate had a room full of blankies and stuffed animals, tons of transitional objects to choose from…but instead chose to carry little things he could hold in his fist. He LOVED LOVED the Fisher Price  “little people” and went nuts over the little Lego guys. Once, on a Pre School tour, he got hold of a tiny cylindrical purple block. Held it tight in his hand and I did not have the heart to try to pry it loose. It remains in my jewelry box….a reminder of the little things..that meant so much…even if only until the next “little thing” came along.

TATE AND ONE OF HIS "GUYS" - THIS PARTICULAR ONE WAS THE LID TO A CERAMID "WINNIE THE POOH" TINY DISH. HE WOULD STAND AT THE FOOT OF MY DRESSER AND BEG ME TO TAKE IT DOWN SO HE COULD CARRY IT AROUND. IT WOULD KEEP HIM OCCUPIED FOR HOURS...THAT SILLY WINNIE THE POOH LID. I MISS THOSE DAYS...THEY FELT SO OVERWHELMING AT THE TIME...BUT WHEN I LOOK BACK...THEY WERE SO SWEET AND SIMPLE. I CHERISH THE MEMORIES OF THAT TIME.
TATE AND ONE OF HIS “GUYS” – THIS PARTICULAR ONE WAS THE LID TO A CERAMIC “WINNIE THE POOH” JEWELRY DISH. HE WOULD STAND AT THE FOOT OF MY DRESSER AND BEG ME TO TAKE IT DOWN SO HE COULD CARRY IT AROUND. IT WOULD KEEP HIM OCCUPIED FOR HOURS…THAT SILLY WINNIE THE POOH LID. I MISS THOSE DAYS…THEY FELT SO OVERWHELMING AT THE TIME…BUT WHEN I LOOK BACK…THEY WERE SO SWEET AND SIMPLE. I CHERISH THE MEMORIES OF THAT TIME.

Fast forward to Phoebe…and she had too many LOVIES to count. When she was three she carried her collected menagerie around the house , room to room, in a cardboard box….Barney, Pooh bear, Cow baby… Her toddler bed was a stuffed-animal zoo…barely room for her little body…there were beanie babies and stuffed puppies and her MOST FAVORITE LOVIE in the whole world (to this day!) was a PINK satin ribbon trimmed monogrammed blankie. Fancy girl. She got it she she was 5 months old as a gift. She still keeps it under her pillow,  a bit tattered, I have re-stitched the binding many times – it has been WELL LOVED…. She named it “Friend Blankie”(FB )-  to be differentiated from “NOT my Friend Blankie” (NMFB) which was the IDENTICAL copy we got in case FB – Blankie #1 went missing. She was on to us…though in truth..and could tell them apart…hence the “not my friend” ….that was until FB #1 was lost one day, after it had been left on the top of the car, and NMFB became FB and we had to get a NMFB #2…which is still packed away somewhere!!! The things we do for love! And sleep.

PHOEBE AND HER MONOGRAMMED BLANKIE - "FRIEND BLANKIE THE FIRST.
PHOEBE AND HER MONOGRAMMED BLANKET – “FRIEND BLANKIE” – THE FIRST.
PHOEBE - CHRISTMAS MORNING - OVERWHELMED WITH ALL THE HOOPLA, SHE CRAWELED INOT HER ROCKER WITH HER PACIE AND BLANKIE AND COMFORTED HERSELF.
PHOEBE – CHRISTMAS MORNING – AGE 18 MONTHS – OVERWHELMED WITH ALL THE HOOPLA, SHE CRAWLED INTO HER ROCKER WITH HER PACIfier AND BLANKIE AND COMFORTED HERSELF. THIS WAS A COMMON PHOEBE SIGHT.

These things, the blankies and the “Lovies” are so precious. When we are new parents…they are life savers…they can be the difference between a screaming child and a sleeping one. They comfort our babies when we are across the hall…at work, somewhere else. They make them feel safe. We cherish them and when they get lost…we travel far and wide to retrieve them. We buy back-ups and copies in fear of losing them. Then, one day…while we are busy doing the dishes or folding laundry…we find them in a corner…no longer the life-line-difference-maker they once were and we are simultaneously grateful and a bit melancholy at the swift passage of time and then…we move on to the next thing…the next phase and we pack the Lovies safely away, or tuck them under a pillow and they remind us of a time that was simple and pure and sweet. LOVIES.

THE LOVIE PORTRAITS – STAR BABY AND PATS BUNNY

I HAD THE HONOR LAST CHRISTMAS OF PAINTING DOZENS OF CUSTOM PET PORTRAITS. IN ADDITION,  I WAS COMMISSIONED TO PAINT THE “LOVIES” BELONGING TO THE CHILDREN OF A CLIENT. THIS WAS A FIRST…AND I HOPE I GET THE CHANCE AGAIN…I LOVED THIS PROJECT…

The little girl had a “Star Baby”…

STAR BABY
STAR BABY

…and her big brother The little boy had a Patriots Bunny…

PATS BUNNY
PATS BUNNY

This photo melts my heart!

These two yummy Christmas morning babes…make you want to freeze time. I am so happy to have been able to give them lasting memories of this precious time!
Did you have a LOVIE? Did your children? I love hearing about the LOVIES!!!

xo

3 thoughts on “BLANKIES, LOVIES and the LOVIE PORTRAITS

  1. Oooh, I just LOVE this post! 😉 Our pets are family and I should consider getting their portraits but never have as I couldn’t pick… but THIS idea awesome! I actually blogged about how I want to be buried with my daughter’s back-up (#2) bear as it represents one of the best chapters of my life. As always, your portraits are stunning. Thanks for all the beauty you share here (I lurk n love your blog)!
    hugs,
    Leslie in MD
    http://farmfreshfun.blogspot.com/2010/04/lovies.html

  2. I still have my son’s “comfort critter” – a little stuffed whale and they are both 47 yrs. old now! When his daughters were little, they even played with him. But fast forward to today, and we are consumed with our little dog’s bestie! When we brought him home, the breeder suggested this stuffed “pup” who came with both a warmer and a beating “heart”. We employed both on his first night and while they helped, the actual stuffed pup remains his constant companion, 6 yrs. later. Pup (or Pup-pup), as we call him, has been mended to the point his original demeanor is only a memory and we quickly bought a back-up, just in case! We’ve resorted to Pup #2 only a few times and each time, the boy has looked at us as though we’d gone dumb – having no part of it! I really should have you do a picture of the boy with his “pup” – it’s very, very sweet! Great post!!!!

  3. This was the best post ever. “You never know what your child will choose as their LOVIE” it melted my heart. It is true. About the decorations, I hate pictures on top of beds. Especially when it have glass on it.

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