R.I.P. Bouncy Chair

Bouncy Chair
 ?? - 2013

You came into our lives in the winter of 2005/2006.  Your fabric looked like a $20 hotel bedspread, and even when we met you your velcro could barely grip.  But you held our sweet Isabelle so gently, and shimmied her to sleep many afternoons, and you soon became an indispensable part of our family.

When Jack was a baby you lost your ability to vibrate.  Your seat would slip off the frame occasionally, but still you fought on, holding him safe and never flipping over on top of him even when his sister dragged him off by his ankles.

Your seat lay down the fight with Sophie, and I had to add snaps to keep you together.  And yet she wouldn't sleep anywhere but in your embrace for nearly three weeks after she was born.  You kept her safe and secure, away from smothering sibling snuggles, during the day, and helped her sleep soundly all night long.

The snaps gave out with Beatrice, and we knew your time was nearly over.  But again, your comfortable seat was the only place the baby would sleep through the night for her first few weeks.  Even the cat found you irresistible.

But now your job here is finally done. You can go on to your final resting place knowing that despite all of your rips and tears, you held up. You held all four Johnson babies safe and sound, cuddled them as they dreamed and grew.  You were an integral part of what it meant to be a baby in this house, and for that we thank you.

Rest in peace, Bouncy Chair.