an identity crisis...

Meet Zeebs

He used to be known as "Jaffy".  That was when I thought he was a giraffe.  Caleb thought he was a hippo.  Someone else thought he was a pig.  And no wonder, I found this at the same place we got Zeebs:

The stripes say, "zebra", but the neck says, "giraffe".  Who are these people and what are they doing making toys for small children?!?  Luckily, we were able to get to the bottom of this mystery.  I checked the store label, and it clearly said, "zebra".  Zeebs could now officially be Zeebs (or Zeebies or Zeberts).  

Oh, and since you might be wondering, yes, Zeebs is a boy.  Don't be fooled by the pink coloring, the long eyelashes, or the bow on  his head.  He is definitely a boy.

I bought Zeebs when Janie was just a few days old.  I wanted her to have something snuggly to hold on to.  But when I introduced the two of them, she didn't even seem to care.  Apparently one-week-old babies don't really get attached to toys.

A few months later, we pulled Zeebs out again (he was still Jaffy at this point, but does that really matter?)  Jane took to him instantly.  She would get a huge grin on her face when she saw him, and one of the few sure ways to make her laugh was to turn Zeebs's head around and pretend he was looking for her while saying (in a Zeebs-like voice), "Where is Janie?" 

Now, Jane goes to sleep snuggling Zeebs every night.  When it's time for bed, we hand her Zeebs and sing to her.  She often gently nibbles on his bow, tugs at his ears with her teeth, and snuggles him into her face.  When she wakes up, she stands holding to the crib railing waiting for us to get her.  As soon as she sees Caleb or me, she scrambles to grab Zeebs before we scoop her out of her crib.

So despite the species and gender confusion, we love you, Zeebs!  Thanks for being such a good friend to our girl!