For the Love of a Bear

Lia in March of 2006 (home for one month!) with two of her favorite people...Pink Bear and Great Grandma:

Lia received a plushy, squishy, sweet pink bear as a gift when we first brought her home. That bear instantly became her best buddy. We (I) initially named "him" (and I know what you're thinking...it's a PINK bear...but he was always a "he" for some reason!) "Bear"-y Manilow...a nod to the other man in my life. However, before long we just started calling him Pink Bear and that name stuck. Pink, Pinky, the Pinkster, P.B....he answers to more names than Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy....well you get the idea!

We could not leave the house without him. When Lia started to school, he went along...although he was forced the indignity of waiting for Lia out in the hall. They were both happy at nap time, when they could be reunited for a good round of hugs and loving for a few blissful hours.

I ordered a spare bear just in case the unthinkable might happen. The spare came in handy on a few occasions when I committed the ultimate in bad mommydom and left old P.B. at school. Lia was never the wiser and we all got a good night's sleep!

As Lia gets older (sob!), she is not SO reliant on her stuffed buddy. He still sleeps with her, but it is not necessary to take him along for EVERY outing. But don't fear...he's still getting his fair share of playtime here at home. These are two pictures I took just this week. I got a good chuckle out of both of these situations. Is it just me or does it seem like Pink has a pleading look for help in the picture of him sporting a pair of Lia's "Big Girl" pants??