Maddie had long, skinny fingers like her Daddy. Mike hoped that she would use them to make music. He could picture her fingers playing the guitar or dancing across a keyboard. I’d had those hopes, too, but I also knew those fingers would also help her with something very important – pushing buttons. Not figurative buttons, though. Literal buttons.

Maddie was obsessed with pushing buttons. She loved to push on our keyboards, the stereo, and my point and shoot camera.

But her first love? PHONES. I told Mike her phone & texting bills were going to be HUGE.

Back in March at a play date, Maddie encountered her first toy cell phone. It belonged to another little boy, but Maddie NEVER PUT IT DOWN. I thought for sure she’d throw a tantrum when I finally gave it back to the little boy, but of course she didn’t. She was awesome like that.

the phone Maddie stole

A few weeks after that, Mike and I took her on her first plane flight. We walked by a kids’ store in LAX and I saw a toy phone just like the one the little boy had, but in pink. So of course we HAD to get it for her. It was immediately her favorite toy.

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But nothing appealed to her like a REAL phone. More specifically, MY phone. She LOVED my blackberry. It was the perfect thing to quiet her. I always let her have it at Dr. Looove’s office when she needed a shot. She’d cry for a second, but as soon as she saw my blackberry she’d light up brighter than the tiny screen on the phone.
IDK, My BFF Jill

Even though I locked the phone so she couldn’t accidentally call China, it would still light up if she hit a button. My screensaver was a picture of Maddie & Rigby, and she loved to look at it.

checking her email

Mike got me a new phone last week as an early birthday present. Normally when I get a new phone, I recycle the old one by donating it to a shelter. But not this phone. Not Maddie’s favorite toy. I will keep it forever.

Blackberry or iPhone?