And Pretzel makes Six

Unlike Daniel who was never interested in stuffed animals, except his dog Spot, Sammy loves them. Not only does Sammy hug and carry around his stuffed animals, but he loves to have them in the crib with him while he sleeps. And when he wakes up all his animals and blankets must come out of the crib with him. Well, this wasn't such a big deal when he just had two special animals and one blanket, but his family of favorites has rapidly expanded.

I think the original two stuffed animals were Rabbit and Pooh bear. When we traveled to Portland to visit Leina for her first birthday, Sammy acquired Elmo. A while after that I showed Sammy Cuddles, my little bear when I was small, and Sammy quickly added him to the pack. For a long time these four animals made up the core of Sammy's favorite stuffed animals.

Then came Sammy's birthday and Leina picked out a soft, white lamb for Sammy's present. Of course, Sammy took one look at that sweet stuffed animal, hugged him tight and the pack became five.


Now carrying a very heavy 2 year old, five stuffed animals, anywhere from one to three blankets and sometimes milk, up and down stairs can be quite cumbersome and treacherous. Dan uses the technique of stuffing all the animals and blankets under his shirt, but I go with the blankets over my left shoulder, Sammy in my left arm and all the animals in my right arm. This seems to work pretty well unless I drop one of the animals. Bending over with that load can be quite tricky, especially with Sammy squirming around and pointing out the animal that went overboard.

Well I guess Sammy wanted an even number, because last week he admitted another stuffed animal to the club, Pretzel. While at Ikea Sammy picked up Pretzel somewhere and dragged the little blue dog around the store hugging him and saying he loved him. I think under normal circumstances I would have drawn the line at five stuffed animals, but Pretzel is so cute and soft even I couldn't resist him (and at only $1.99 he was a steal).


I hope that Sammy does not fall in love with any more stuffed animals because my arms are full and Dan's shirt is stuffed.