And where exactly do you find more Oranges?

And where exactly do you find more Oranges?
I know I’ve spoken at great length about Hayden’s precious stuffed animal that we call Orange. We call him Orange, because (you guessed it) he’s Orange. It’s a seahorse with a huge head and bulging eyes. We were on vacation on Ocean City, Maryland and I eyed a game that I could actually play with a Baby Bjorn strapped to me. Hayden was about five months old at the time. Much to the surprise of the game conductor and my husband, I won. My prize was Orange. I thought it was cute and happily gave it to Hayden. I was proud that this was the first carnival prize that I had ever won for her. She clutched him and off we went about our way.
Once we returned from vacation, Orange stayed by Hayden’s side at night. She would sleep with him and cuddle with him. She would even attack him and shove his bulging eyes into her mouth. I thought it was cute. She turned him into a way to get my attention by throwing him overboard at night and then crying hysterically. She knew that if she threw him overboard, I would come and rescue him and put her back down with a little kiss. I never had a “lovey” or a toy that I was attached to growing up. So the idea that Orange was a part of Hayden’s life was a bit odd to me. Nevertheless, as any Mommy, I would do anything to make her happy. So Orange stayed. I tried to sneak other toys in to replace Orange. It never seemed to work. I remember how upset I was when I ordered Hayden this beautiful dolly that looked like her and had her name stitched on the doll’s dress. I put her to sleep with this beautiful doll, nope, she cried. She wanted Orange. My mother began to complain and stated that the reason why Hayden would not nap for her was because I wouldn’t bring Orange to her house. (NOT because she spoils the hell out of her).
I refused to let Orange leave my house. I was afraid something would happen to him then Hayden would never sleep again. As the months went by, Orange’s battle scars started to show. His extra large nose started to rip. He had a bit of stuffing escaping through his head. I started to get nervous about what I would do when he fell apart. Hayden puked on him a few times, so I had to throw him in the wash a few times as well. I started scouting diners and looking for those vendor games in hopes I would see an Orange in there somewhere. My cousin (who is also a fantastic Mommy) made a good point- She asked what I would actually do if I did find one of those machines with an Orange… How many quarters would it take before I would finally give up. Hm. Good point.
I googled “large headed orange seahorse stuffed animals” and much to my surprise, there weren’t any matches. I started to get desperate. Finally, I grabbed Orange and found written on an extremely faded area of the stuffed animal the words “Peek-a-Boo”. Jackpot. I found the company that manufacturers Orange. Much to my amazement, they are not in China. They are actually in the mid-west. Well, maybe Orange was made in China, but his family is distributed out of Iowa… Or somewhere like that. I called and the nice lady on the customer service line was very helpful. She would be happy to send me some more Orange’s. For the right price. Oh, and they only sell in bulk, so they would have to send 12. I was desperate and happily agreed.
Three days later, a box shows up on my front door and sure enough- there are 12 orange stuffed seahorses with abnormally sized heads. My husband and I have a plan where we will still only allow Orange to stay in her crib and in our house… but my Mother will have one at her home too (we shall see if Hayden will nap there now) and we’ll hide the rest of them. Unfortunately, I didn’t hide the box fast enough. You should have seen the look of confusion on her poor little face as I came out of the bathroom and she had opened the box and was surrounded by Oranges. I’m banking on the fact she won’t remember.