BOO!

 Ever since Kate was a tiny little "Peanut", she has loved her boo.  There is just something about that soft, flannel blanket of love that Kate finds comforting.  It's good for anything from helping her fall asleep, to comforting sadness, to helping her cope with a stressful situation. 

Kate's "boo" was one of her first nouns as a baby.  She started calling it that after her big sister Morgan played Peek-A-Boo with her using her flannel recieving blanket. 

Kate's boo has been through many stages of her life.  When she was an infant, she was swaddled in it.  Later, it was the perfect size to lay on the floor while she learned to roll over and crawl.  As she grew, she carried it everywhere.  As a toddler she liked to hold it close to her face and smell it.  When she was a preschooler, it became a part of her.  As she tried to cope with her autism and all of the stress she was feeling at the time, her boo served to calm her.  She would find her boo, rock back and forth, and rub the edging.  I can remember when she was terrified of water, and I was trying to help her enjoy the pool.  She would cling to me in terror, but she would let me hold her and walk in the pool as long as she had her boo.  It would be soaking wet, but it still did the trick.  Of course now she's a fish and I can't get her out of the pool! 

Now that she's gotten older, and better at figuring out how to be autistic and navigate in the world succesfully, she doesn't carry it wherever she goes.  But it comes out sometimes in times of stress.  And it always comes out when it's time for bed.  She asked to take it to school with her on the first day of middle school, just to keep in her backpack so she could touch it if she needed to. 

Over the years she has gone through several versions of this beloved object.  We know it's time to replace it when the crocheted edging starts to come off,  the color has turned from pink to something between brown and gray, and it has a bit of a funky smell, even when coming straight out of the washer. 

Lucky for Kate, Grandma Kathy has her very own supply of hemstitched flannel.  Not only that, but she is a talented crocheter.  Kate loves her newest boo that Grandma let her choose a few weeks ago.  Thanks Grandma Kathy!!!