Fabricor Consonvs: Homage to Steven Bear

A dark, quiet room.

A man and a woman are sleeping silently in the early hours of the morning. There is no light but the faintest illumination of the moon, no sound but their slow and sleepy breathing. The air is cold, but the blankets are warm with several hours sleep.

All of a sudden, a cry pierces the night like a siren. Both parents stir, and the father rubs his eyes. The cry comes again, broken-hearted as only a child's cry can be. The baby wails again from the next room, even louder, and the father swings out from beneath the warm covers. He treads sockfoot into the nursery in the next room, where he a little boy is standing and sobbing in his crib, little tears glistening in the dim glow of his night-light.

Still half sleeping, the father sees the binky in the boy's mouth and kneels on the floor. The tears continue as the father crawls around the edges of crib and reaches blindly underneath. He coos soft comfort to the baby, but the little boy only cries harder until...the father's hand finds something soft and small. It is a grubby white bear, which he hands over the railing to the sobbing boy. Immediately the boy stops crying, presses the bear to his face, and hums a cheerful, satisfied hum. He kneels in his crib, then faceplants hard onto the mattress, using the bear as a pillow. With his bottom still sticking up in the air and his face buried, he returns to peaceful sleep in less than a minute.

Easier to love when you can't smell him

This is Steven Bear, and he is James' best friend in the entire world. Steven was a gift from Uncle Calvus and Aunt Beka last April, and he instantly became James' favorite toy. He has a little tag on his bottom that says "Steven Smith Company," so his name was obvious. The first full day of Steven's life with James was a six hour car trip to Pennsylvania, and James spent the entire trip snuggling Steven as tight as he could, as well as holding conversation in six month old coos. Steven instantly became James' bedtime companion, and held a powerful ability to instantly turn fussing and crying into happy snuggles when produced by a parent. He was, for the first few months of his life, a beautiful bright white.

Then James learned to crawl. And got his first cold. (Steven was probably more helpful for James' first cold than either of his parents...but in a really gross way.) I don't know what color we'd call Steven now, but it certainly isn't white. He's aging quickly. Sometimes we'll give Steven a "bath" in the washing machine, but if James is supposed to be taking a nap during this terrible time of separation we can forget about any kind of sleep. (Puppy and monkey, to whom James has shown some affection on occasion, are NOT acceptable substitutes, apparently.) Worried about this, J at one point called the Steven Smith company to ask about a "back-up Steven." Unfortunately, the Steven Smith company only sells in bulk. (Calvus tells us that our bear came from a CareNet fundraiser) This might explain why Steven is so flimsy...his neck is getting wobbly, his stitching loose, and he has a few holes in his fur. As James has learned to walk (and fall) things have only been harder on poor Steven, and James' latest teething trick seems to be biting Steven's nose. It's hard to know how much longer Steven will be with us before he needs some sort of major surgery.

With that said, J and I have grown to LOVE Steven Bear. It's really touching to see just how big James' little heart can be. Nothing makes him happier than finding Steven lying on the ground, and no playtime is complete without Steven playing along. He sings to Steven, snuggles Steven, and even talks to him. (His name is Dy-dy to James.) I think that James even understood what the word "Steven" meant before "banana," "binky," or "bath." Steven has become so much a part of our family that I'll say "I'll see all three of you later" when I head out the door for the day. J, who has been subject to pregnancy jokes from my brothers for our entire married life, doesn't think this is funny. I think James and Steven love it.