No Story of AnnaLeisa is complete if Stones are not mentioned.....

AnnaLeisa soothes herself with stones. Particular stones; cool, round, smooth, and the size of her fist or larger. She uses them instead of a blankie and they are her comfort. She rubs them all over her body and includes every web between her toes and in all of her fingers and softly around her face. She can suck her thumb at the same time but often I find her only with one stone... that is until it is warm and then it is recycled with another cool one; or should I say cold one. On occasion she has touched me in bed with one of her new ones and I am startled as if with an ice cube. She rolls them on the side of her eyes, on her warm belly and is even known to roll all over them with her back!
Quite the phenomena to sleep next too!

So I have included a photo of her side of the bed where she keeps her favorite stash. They are everywhere including the carseat, in my purse, in my pockets, in finding spots all over the house including in a brass pot by the TV. Sometimes she just turns around in bed and sticks her feet under her pillow so she can massage them all at once. Or while watching TV she will dump them all out of the brass pot and sit on them ...

She will want them urgently when she needs them and everyone in Daycare returns her stones to her quite promptly, all the children are quite kind with returning the precious gems to AnnaLeisa.

In winter I am known to dig under snow while we are on stone hunts and often we come home with new dirty bundles to wash in the sink.

I had no idea we would be so connected to stones and I do not know the link for her but I so remember after our first cold winter here I picked up a stone in the spring and said "look honey a soft stone, you can take it and rub it on your cheek and it is so soft and smooth...."

As if I did that on a regular basis?!!

So there it is some kind of tactile, kinesthetic comfort that I admire and love.

Recently she told me that she will not use them when she is big...? I think someone said it at daycare? I quickly corrected her to let her know she can always have stones as friends.. no matter how big she gets. That they never ever have to go anywhere.....

we love them

I think they are real grounders....