The Sock Monster...

In the olden days (read: life before Abby) the phrase "Sock Monster" meant that little creature that lives in my dryer and eats one sock per load to ensure that I cannot pair up every sock I have washed in that particular load and have to throw away the lone sock that remains. That's what "Sock Monster" used to mean to me. Now, "Sock Monster" means my little Abby!

While I chalked up her initial disdain for socks to typical baby behavior and an inability to get her socks big enough for those boats she calls feet, I have decided that she might actually have a severe sock phobia. I don't know what socks ever did to her, but they clearly caused severe enough damage for her to never want to wear them again. Before, she would allow me to put them on and then try to be sneaky and get them off as fast a possible under her blanket hoping I wouldn't notice. But yesterday, she crossed the line. After I put her in her nightgown, I reached over and grabbed the biggest pair of socks she had. That was when all hell broke loose!!! The mere sight of socks made my smiley baby start screaming. I persisted. I not only got them on her feet, I also unfolded them an made them into knee-highs thinking there was no way she was going to get those all the way off during the night. Wrong again.

When I went to get her at 6:30 this morning, I found said socks neatly laid in the corner of her crib, far far away from her. She might as well have folded them too!!! She could have thrown them out of her crib or had them in disarray throught the crib, but no, not Abby - She had them both right next to each other in an organized manner. It was as if she was trying to politely give me a message like "Mommy, while I really appreciate your efforts to keep my feet warm at all times, I must admit that I hate socks and you should really stop wasting your time trying to get me to keep them on. They are coming off one way or another whether you like it or not."

I got the message...