I had been holding on to a Build-a-Bear gift card for some time, waiting for the right time for Peyton to appreciate the process. I decided it was time for us to take a trip and let him create his new friend. It had been awhile since I had been to Build-a-Bear, but the process is pretty simple: You choose the "skin" of whatever you want to make and there are lots to choose from: bears, monkeys, rabbits, dogs, cats, frogs...if you can stuff it, you can make it. Then you decide if you'd like to put some kind of sound inside of your new friend, you stuff it with stuffing to the desired fluffiness, warm a little heart, make a wish, and put it inside to make your friend come alive. You also add a tag to the inside that can be scanned if your new friend is ever lost so that they can reunite it with its rightful owner. From there, it gets all sewn up. You can take it over to the bath tub to clean it all up (with air and brushes), then you give it a name, and print out your new friend's birth certificate.
Peyton picked out a puppy dog (one of the more expensive skins, I might add), and I steered him away from adding a sound like a yippy, annoying dog bark, although the sales lady tried her best to sell Peyton on the idea. We stuffed him all up, making sure he could stand on all 4's but not too much so that he would still be soft and cuddly. We added his heart and Peyton made a wish (who knows what went through his head at this point, but I secretly made a wish for him). Peyton spent a lot of time and care with his new puppy at the bathtub, making sure he was nice and clean. As we filled out the birth certificate (and I took great care to remove my information from every marketing email list), I asked him what he wanted to name him and he said, "Christopher Harrell". Hmmm...interesting choice in names since Christopher happens to be his middle name. I guess he has just a small repertoire of favorite names at this point.
Although we had pretty much maxed out his gift certificate at this point, I thought I'd let Peyton spend a little of his birthday money on an accessory or two. I thought the dog collar and leash would be a cute addition, and we could leave it at that. Nope. Peyton liked the dog collar and leash, but then he wanted the puppy to be on roller skates so that he could actually drag him around. But now I have to buy two sets of roller skates because our animal walks on all fours and they only sell two at a time. Fine. Let's go. Well....you can't put on the roller skates unless you buy shoes too. Once I agreed to the roller skates, there was no going back. I couldn't tell Peyton that we couldn't get them anymore or else I would have to deal with the wrath of a 3 year old when I went back on my word. And you guessed it, those only come in pairs as well, so now I need two sets of shoes for my 4-legged friend in addition to the two sets of roller skates. Well, we're still spending birthday money here. Finally, puppy dog, collar, leash, shoes, and roller skates later (for all 4 legs), we were on our way out the door, with me swearing that it was a very dangerous place for 3 year olds.
Peyton was so excited to get home to introduce Christopher Harrell to daddy and Nellie. I didn't think either of them would react favorably. Daddy took it better than Nellie, but I think she'll warm up to him eventually. Once it was time for Peyton to take a nap, I knew he would want Christopher Harrell to go with him. However, I didn't realize that Christopher Harrell was going to need a bed. Silly me. And a blanket. And you have to take his leash and roller skates and shoes off for him to take a nap. Of course. After finally doing the nap-time routine for both Peyton and Christopher Harrell, I said "good night Peyton" as I was walking out the door. "But MOM! You didn't say good night to Christopher Harrell!" Oh, dear.
Naturally, I could still hear Peyton up in his room playing after about 30 minutes so I went up to remind him that he was supposed to be taking a nap. I pointed out that Christopher Harrell was still in his bed taking a nap like he was supposed to be. But then my son pointed out to me that in fact Christopher Harrell was not sleeping because his eyes were not closed. How do you argue with that?
I managed to snap a picture of the two new best friends post-bath tonight. Peyt is wearing his PJs and his Mickey Mouse hat. And, yes, the bed time routine now includes putting Christopher Harrell to bed too.
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