Elise and the animals

Notice how they're tucked
under Elise's right arm: do
you think she's left-handed?

There's nothing much cuter in this world than seeing a 16-month-old gently kiss a shaggy pink bear and puppy and put them not-so-gently down for a little nap, whispering "shhh" to make sure they stay asleep. Or seeing her give the same bear and puppy a big squeeze if they fall off the couch, or hold them up so they can see the train passing by, feed them pretend food from a pretend spoon, or lick their noses or wake them up from their naps.

And that pretty much sums up the take-home message of this blog, unless you want to read about how we got to this point, which is as follows:

As I was preparing for Elise's arrival, I found myself scoping out stores for what I hoped would become her version of Lamby. I knew that:

1. For as much as you can say this about a stuffed animal, Lamby has been an amazing presence in Kalina's life. (In fact, so much so that Kalina doesn't sleep with Lamby anymore. No, Lamby sleeps carefully bathed and oh-so-sweetly tucked into the top bunk of her bunk bed, usually with a smaller animal friend of her own, and kissed at least once on the forehead. The bunk bed is pulled up directly next to Kalina's bed. It is a place of supreme honor.)

2. I wanted Elise to have the same opportunity.

3. There was little I could do to convince Elise to attach to the stuffed animal I carefully chose for her, instead of, say, a plastic shovel, but I could try. 

Do you think they're related?

As long as I was going to attempt this feat, and based on our experience with Lamby, I had a few criteria:

1. The animal must sit and lay down easily, with limbs that could be arranged somewhat by a child's hands (so, a stuffed fish was a no-go).

2. It must be readily replaceable--easy enough (and cheap enough) to buy a stunt-double a year down the road if Elise did decide to attach.

3. It must not be so small that it would be mistaken for a cat toy.

4. It must not be so large that it wouldn't fit in her arms.

5. It must be thoroughly soft and sweet. No stuffed pythons, please.

6. It must not make noise or do anything that required batteries, as I wanted Elise to be able to sleep with it without being woken up every time she shifted a bit.

7. It must not be another lamb.

8. Really, it shouldn't be white. But also not black, dark brown, anything boyish, any obnoxious print or anything except a sweet pastel. This left variations of pink, lavender and yellow.

I was amazed at how long it took to find this animal, but I did, shortly after Elise was born. And so, Pink Bear quietly entered our lives. Pink Bear remained relatively dormant and ignored in favor of a stuffed whale, a stuffed alligator, stuffed dogs and armfuls of Kalina's coveted stuffed toys until I deemed it was safe to add her to Elise's crib. 

At first, I decided to make an attempt (rather halfhearted, to be honest), to limit Pink Bear's movements to Elise's crib, so that it'd be one less stuffie for me to keep track of all over town. However, my hope that Elise would attach to the animal superseded convenience, as it often does, and now we drag Pink Bear everywhere. We do have a stunt double (thanks, Aunt Nancy!). We also have Puppy, who joined us on Christmas and has not left Pink Bear's side. He, too, has a stunt double, because it wasn't worth $5 not to acquire one.

And although Elise is actually willing to play with the occasional doll or human Little People figure (unlike Big Sister until she was about 3), the toddler is most assuredly an animal person. Is her affinity inborn, or is it instead due to the fact that anyone who has spent so many of her formative months with Kalina could only assume that life must be navigated with an animal tucked under an arm? Only time will tell.

But Elise's love for animals isn't limited to her two favorites. She gleefully trots across the room if she's pursued by a stuffed predator, such as Big Blue Horse. She protectively cradles tiny animals (often belonging to her sister) in her arms, shooting the evil eye to and scooting across the room from anyone (her sister) who looks like they might take them away. She knows exactly how to feed our pet cat and mice, and is generous in her helpings. And she'll actually wield a puppet rather than always requiring us to do it.

Kalina has dutifully taught Elise quite a repertoire of animal noises, which the littler one delights in. Her earliest included "woof" for dogs and the cutest little "ppffffhhh" for elephants (and giraffes, which she associates with elephants for some reason). Pink Bear, by the way, growls the cutest little growl. Elise still wows audiences with her animal sound skills for such a young age. 

Kalina has also taught the littler girl almost everything she knows about caring for stuffed animals, and in fact, it's rather impressive that for months now the younger girl has equated Pink Bear with Lamby. Whether it's piggyback rides or performing "The Wheels on the Bus," you can be sure that if Lamby is doing it, Pink Bear soon will be, too. Although this is exactly what I was going for, it took me by surprise.

Perhaps best of all, each girl is starting to recognize which animals are most important to the other. Kalina keeps track of Pink Bear and Puppy for Elise nearly as conscientiously as she does Lamby, or the kittens, or Costume Cow and her baby Farmyard Cow, or the penguin trio (Peep, Peep and Peep). After all, nothing is more important than keeping your animals close to you at all times. And for her part, Elise kindly returns any of Kalina's animals she's "borrowed" after a polite request for a trade (which we've been working really hard on) or tears, or simply after she's had a long enough turn.

And so, it looks like it's safe to say that cuteness will continue to abound in our household for the foreseeable future. Whew.