Scarlette hates blankets. That’s basically the gist of things, for months we had been trying to get her to sleep with various blankets and each and every one of them would end up thrown in the floor. Even if I snuck in long after she was asleep and tucked her in I would hear her moving minutes later, glance at the monitor, and see all of the blankets on the floor. And even with warm footie pajamas I worried that she wasn’t warm enough, mostly because she was waking up to complain to me that she was cold. Her yellow blanket was the only one she would tolerate but she was getting a bit too big for it, it is more of a lovey than a snuggle-under type of cover.
It is a texture issue for her, she has a few mild sensory issues related to her prematurity and one thing that has always stood out to us is her refusal to touch soft things. She doesn’t like stuffed animals and she especially doesn’t like soft, plush blankets. As a girl who could spend all day in my fluffy bathrobe this totally baffles me.
(Also unfortunate for Scarlette because oversized plush blankets are basically all we own.)
So with all of that in mind I took her along with me to Target to pick out new bedding.
Y’all.
It was on that particular shopping trip that I fully grasped the concept of “threenager.” I felt like I was shopping with a two foot tall thirteen year old girl. As we walked down the aisle I pulled out comforter after comforter and offered it to her and she would shake her head curtly and respond “NOPE! I NOT SWEEPIN WIF DAT BWANKET ON MY BED!” I wanted to get her something like this because it seemed so comfortable and I really loved those stripes but she was having none of it. She reached out to trace her hand over the fabric and then jerked it back “NOPE! I NOT PUT DAT BWANKET ON MY BED!” she said with finality.
On the next aisle she ran her hands over a quilt and said that she liked it. Unfortunately, it was lime green. I realize that I would be a super cool mom if I let my three year old pick out whatever she wanted but I couldn’t do it. I’m just morally opposed to lime green. But I did pull out a few other quilt sets and when I held out this pink one she said “OH! I WIKE DIS ONE. IT HAS SHUM WORDS ON IT. IT CAN BE ON MY BED.”
And so I quickly put it in the cart and got the heck out of dodge before she changed her mind because it matched and she touched it.
Her occupational therapist told us that the type of sensory experience she seeks out are objects that are hard, such as solid plastic or wooden toys, and objects that have a rough texture like the raised grip pattern of a kickball. So I guess it makes sense that she will only sleep under a quilt because they tend to have stiffer fabric and I’ve noticed she likes to trace her fingers over the stitching as she falls asleep.
Now I’m on the hunt for a new pillow because she keeps throwing hers off the bed and saying “I NOT WIKE DIS PIWWOW, IT TOO SOFT FOR ME.” She is currently sleeping on an embroidered throw pillow at night. Because I don’t know.
(We made some more changes but this is already super long so I’ll post the rest of the photos of her big girl room tomorrow. Here is what her room used to look like.)
