The Saga of Baby Penguin

Before I start our story, I must give some background information on baby penguin. Baby came to our family on the 4th of July. My mom and brother and sister in law went with the boys and I to the zoo. On the way out, my brother and sister in law, who were in from out of town, wanted to go to the gift shop. Now, generally I avoid the gift shop on the way out. It had been a long time since I had bought the petites toys from the zoo though, so I went in with them and let them pick some things out. We got two stuffed dolphins(which the boys needed like I need a hole in the head) and then a five pack of plastic penguins. Four of the plastic penguins were big adult penguins, and one small baby penguin.

When we got home, Isaac immediately took to Baby Penguin, and soon he would not ever put it down. Probably because he had recently lost his other favorite toy (iron man, and mind you, we have five "iron man" figures, but there was a specific one he liked and when he lost him, he was devastated for days). Eventually I found Iron Man, and though Isaac was incredibly happy to see him, Baby was still always the one in his little hand.

And now we come to....

The Saga of Baby Penguin:

It was a sunny Saturday. Gigi had come over to watch the boys so I could get my hair done. While I was gone she went to straighten up the back porch, which was a jumbled mess of the petites' outside toys. Isaac followed her out, baby in hand. Later that day after I had gotten home and Gigi had gone, Isaac came up to me and asked... "Baby?" Now I've been asked this question too many times to count. I've come to the conclussion that Isaac likes to get creative where he "loses" baby and then is entertained my watching me hunt for him. I have found baby in windowsills and silverware drawers. I have found baby in the dvd cabinet and in the pantry. So when he asks me this question... "baby?" I immediately get a little annoyed and know I'm in for a pretty long hunt. But do I tell him to find it himself? No, I look and look until I find him because I'm a sucker.

So on Saturday when he asked I spent a good 30 minutes looking for him. No baby. Thankfully I distracted him by leaving for Gigi's house to go see the Smurfs movie(totally recommend it, it was smurf-tastic)

On Sunday I was asked again "Baby?" I searched and searched, looked high and low. No baby. Again, I distracted him and he was okay.

On Monday I was asked again "Baby?" At this point I'm remembering how bad it was when we lost Iron Man and I'm getting a little panicky. Amazing how one little plastic penguin can cause a grown woman so much anxiety.

No baby on Monday.

On Tuesday, we decided to go out and play in the backyard since there was FINALLY a break in the horrible heat wave we'd been having. I went out to put water in the pool and in the pirate ship and generally get toys out... as I walked to the Pirate Ship, low and behold, BABY PENGUIN!!! As I was cursing the time I had wasted looking inside, I walked over and gave it to Isaac who absolutely sang with joy! Baby was found and all was right in the world.

Skip ahead 30 minutes... I find baby in the middle of the yard in the grass. Seriously. So I take baby and set him beside the pool for safe keeping.

Skip ahead another 30 minutes or so... Isaac gets in the pool, spots baby, and grabs him. Unbeknownst to me he then takes him to the sandbox where he and his brother start dumping bucket after bucket of water into the sandbox.

Shortly there after we have lunch. I have all but forgotten about baby at this point... I tend to repress things that cause me anguish. The boys eat and then make a mess with bubbles, which actually turns out to be a hazard so we go inside. I get them washed up and upstairs to play for awhile and then eventually I go back outside to pick up the backyard. I'm just about finished(having had to spray down the back porch that was covered in a gallon of bubbles, and Isaac appears at the back door.

He then asks a question that strikes fear into my heart and makes my blood pressure sky rocket.

"BABY?????"

Thirty minutes. That's how long I searched the back yard for baby. Then I went and asked Isaac if he could help me. He bent down and looked under the table and chairs on the porch. He went over and inspected the pirate ship. He went into what used to be the dog run. He walked around the backyard, "look mama, flower!" but I would not be distracted. Finally he said, "Castle." With such finality he said it. Like he had just remembered that was where baby was. Here I will have to translate for you. When Isaac says "Castle" he means SANDBOX.

The same sandbox that has 300 lbs of sand in it along with the 20 buckets of water they had poured in  it a few hours before hand. I was horrified. So I walk over the the sandbox, take the top off and start to search the box in a grid pattern. After a few minutes of this, I look up to the heaves and plead with God, "Please, if baby penguin is in here, let me find him without dumping all three hundred pounds of sand onto my grass."

Three seconds later, I found Baby Penguin.

Miracles do happen!