A Boy and His Alligator

I don't believe I have ever had the pleasure of formally introducing you to Warmswamps. Yes, Jack's favorite stuffed animal is an alligator and that alligator's name is Warmswamps. (Over time, his name has begun to sound like Rumshrumps, but oh well.)

Jack's sweet Auntie LaLa bought him this alligator several months ago while on a business trip in Miami. It quickly earned the title of Constant Companion and soon thereafter became the Object He Can't Fall Asleep Without. One day, I asked Jack if his alligator had a name. He looked me squarely in the face and said, "Yeah. Warmswamps." It took me a minute or two to put it together. At that time, we were reading a Little Golden Book (that had been mine when I was a little girl) about dinosaurs every night and there was a sentence in that book that read something like, "Crocodiles and alligators live in warm swamps.". Warm swamps. Warmswamps. And so he has been ever since.

As you can see, Warmswamps has provided much comfort over the last few days as Jack recovers from his illness. I snapped this photo yesterday as we had all three (well, four if you count the Swampster) settled in for our regularly scheduled Sunday afternoon nap. I couldn't resist getting up for the camera. It was certainly worth losing a little sleep over, don'tcha think?