Lions and Bunnies and Bears... Oh My!

While Tiffany was studying quantum theory Saturday morning, I was scouring the shelves of a toy store looking for every stuffed rabbit I could find. I knelt on the floor, pushing aside bears and puppies and gorillas and penguins. Occasionally, I'd move an animal left or right and it would let out an indignant "squeak!" or "ruff!"

I wasn't looking for a stuffed animal that made noise, though. I wanted old-fashioned bunnies with floppy ears and pink noses--four of them to be exact. That's one for each of the four babies we owe a "welcome-to-the-world" gift. The bunny is half of one of our go-to infant gift sets. The other half is a copy of "Runaway Bunny," one of the books my mom used to read to me and my brother.

It's hard picking out a stuffed animal. I always want so badly for the one we pick to be "the one." You know, the one the kid never relinquishes as other contenders end up in the laundry, the bottom of the toy basket and, finally, Goodwill.

Tiffany and I each have a childhood favorite on our bed. Mine is Leo the Lion. My first-grade teacher and family friend gave him to me after I was a lion in our school nativity play (you are correct, there is no lion in the story of Jesus' birth, but apparently they needed extra parts). Leo's mane is matted from sleeping next to me over the years, and he has a reconstructed face. That's because when I went away to college--before I got the courage to take him with me to my dorm--my mom's new puppy Murfee ripped Leo's nose off and ate the stuffing inside. Afraid I wouldn't be able to survive without him, my mom recruited her next door neighbor to sew on a new face. The "donor baby"--now a mane, four legs and a tail--became one of Murfee's favorite toys, and Leo was like new, literally (Thanks, Pat!)

Tiffany has Bertha the Bear. At one point, Bertha had clothes, I'm told. But now she's naked, except for a faded red-checkered bow, which is fine because Leo is naked too. Bertha doesn't have a mouth anymore. The black thread that once formed her smile now hangs down from her nose like a single whisker.

Anyway, at the toy store, I was rushing because the scooter was parked in a tow-away zone. When I found a bunny, I smushed it under my arm and kept looking. I couldn't risk setting it aside for some toddler to snatch. I found six bunnies, but one was a puppet. I thought it might be scary, so I cast it aside. Another, a pink one for the only girl baby on our list, I loved until I realized her head was twisted around facing backward. Even after I figured out that her head and limbs could be rotated, I let her go. The possibility that she might go hours facing the opposite direction of her paws before an adult fixed her orientation freaked me out.

Eventually, I found my four (and no ticket on the scooter!). Hopefully, the store will restock soon because, if you can believe it, there are more babies on the way. While Tiffany and I are busy studying chemistry and writing blogs about random every day things, our friends are busy reproducing like... well... like rabbits.