Some B old, Some B new

If you know Cooper well, you've met B. B was a hand-knit gift from Grandma five years ago, when Cooper was 6 months old. It was bright yellow, soft, fuzzy and cuddly. Steve & I called it Big Bird, because it reminded of us the Sesame Street character's feathers. Cooper quickly became attached and called it B. (Sometimes it's called BB.)

The blanket is now a calmer yellow, not as soft, not as fuzzy but sill cuddly. It's accompanied Cooper to four day-care centers and (smuggled in a backpack) to preschool. (It's never made it to kindergarten.) B has been to Sunday school and on our church altar for choir performances. It's been shopping and dining all over town.

It's been to Walt Disney World; Disneyland; Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; the Gulf Coast; the Atlantic Ocean; New York City; San Francisco; Philadelphia; Boston; and all over Texas. It's been lost a few times, but it always finds its way back into Cooper's expectant arms.

It's been washed maybe 300 times. There are a few holes forming and growing bigger. With this in mind, Grandma has given Cooper a new B (not to be confused with Blue B, another handmade blankie). The contrast is striking -- kind of like a makeover's "before" and "after." Cooper is now sleeping with all three, though he clutches old B most tightly.

"BB is my favorite blanket," says Cooper, who is sitting with me and approves this message.

The original B and the new B mingle.