A Gift for Audrey

Today Mamie and I took Noah to the mall to do some shopping. Mamie planned to have Noah pick out a teddy bear for Audrey sometime, and I suggested Build-A-Bear because it's an extra-special way of picking out and stuffing a toy for someone. Noah had never made a teddy bear, so he was unprepared for the wonders of Build-A-Bear...

First, you pick out an unstuffed animal. Of course, they have EVERYTHING you can think of, and the first thing he picked up was this awful camouflage teddy bear, so we steered him toward the cuter bears. The next thing he spotted was THE ONE--a multi-colored tie-dye bunny rabbit. Jamie tried her best to convince him to get a nice, normal teddy bear, but he wouldn't have it. The bunny was PERFECT for his baby sister. Next, we recorded Noah's voice saying, "I love you," and this went inside the bunny so Audrey could push it and hear her big brother. Then, Noah got to help stuff the bunny with stuffing, hug it to see if it was just right, and we all three put a little heart inside the bunny before it was laced up. Next, we took it over for a "bath," where Noah pushed the pedal to blow air on the bunny's fur and brushed it to fluff the fur. I'm not making this up.

Build-A-Bear really hits the wallet with their huge selection of clothing, shoes, purses, and accessories for you to dress up your toy. Mamie showed Noah a cute TCU shirt for the bunny, but he wasn't having it. No, this brightly-colored bunny needed a bright floral dress with hot pink accents. It would have coordinated beautifully with the purple glittery shoes he spotted, but Mamie put her foot down on that and Noah gave in to reason (that the shoes must match the outfit), so the bunny received hot pink shoes. Finally, the bunny needed a birth certificate and a name. I suggested the wildly creative "Bunny" or "Hop," but then Noah mused, "How about... Fifi!" So Fifi it is.

We keep reminding him that he made the bunny for Audrey, but I guess it can't hurt if he naps with Fifi every once in a while...