building bears
“A bedroom without a teddy is like a face without a smile”
– Gill Davies
For Teagan’s third birthday, Daybaby A (with a bit of help from her family) brought her a very awesome gift. A gift certificate to Build-A-Bear Workshop. . .
We went on the day of the unveiling of T’s Big Girl room, because there was much top-secret work to be done before she was allowed in to view the end result. All she knew then was that her room would be yellow, and she babbled excitedly about choosing a yellow bear to match her Big Girl room during the ride. We arrived to find that they didn’t have a single yellow bear, so she reverted back to her most favorite color ever – purple. And not just ANY old purple bear, the one that caught her eye had bits of sparkling tinsel in its fur. . . the choice was made, the building began.
Despite what my pictures may lead you to believe, T didn’t do very much actual BUILDING of her bear. I was a bit bummed out about that, as I fully expected that she would at least get to stuff the little critter herself. Teaball didn’t mind, though, she had a fabulous time just the same!
In fact, the only thing that T didn’t like about the experience was the stuffing machine. The employee let her step on the pedal that forces the stuffing into her bear, but she was very unhappy about the loud noise that the machine created when she did so, so the employee ended up doing that part while we covered our ears and watched.
Bribed with the promise of lunch from Sarku Japan (and just because she loves us), Aunt Ki came along, and did a fantastic job of keeping baby Ro entertained. . .Or maybe baby Ro was entertaining her. Either way, they were both adorably occupied while T and I were having fun building bears!
After the stuffing was complete, T picked a little fabric heart for her bear, and was instructed to do various things to bring her bear to life. In this picture, she’s rubbing the heart on her head, so her bear would be super-smart!
All fluffed and ready to go, T was very pleased with her new little friend. Now she could speak when her paw was pressed, and even had a heartbeat! Off to the dressing room, for T’s most favorite part of all!
We did a quick tour through the hundreds of outfits they had available, and picked several that T was most fond of. She tried them all on her new friend, and eventually chose the two that she liked best to come home with us.
Aunt Ki and Ro also had fun at the dress-up station, discovering that build-a-bear hats fit 3-month old babies perfectly. . .
I suspect that Ro was less than impressed, but she tolerated her beret (and the other odd things that were being placed upon her head) without complaining.
T named her new bear friend Lavender, made up a birth certificate, and brought her home, where she lives to this very day. She really likes this bear, and Lavie is number one on the guest list for every tea-party!
Lavender says;
“I’m so happy you’re my new best friend!”
Huginn, Muninn, and me 