What a Doll

Here Madison is, pretending she's an elephant, raising her trunk and making elephant sounds. She's seen an elephant at the zoo, of course, and seen them on television. But we learn together different animals and their sounds, and an elephant seems to come really easy, especially after you raise your trunk like this. Madison is making the noises herself (as is Daddy), but one reason she's doing it is the doll she's got on the table in front of her. It has different shapes, colors and animals, and lets you know which one you're pressing, and in the case of the animal, it'll make the noise too.

Does the doll look familiar? It should! It's one of Madison's oldest toys, one that we took with us on our adventure to China. Here is a photo of the doll in Nanning, just moments before we left the hotel room to go meet Madison for the first time. It was quite a moment, looking at that empty crib and realizing it wouldn't be empty too much longer. The doll was one of our first gifts for her, one we brought along with us to China. It's a simple toy, a Baby Einstein learning doll. She barely had the strength to press the buttons on it at the time. Daddy and Mommy had to help out. She carried it with her, along with her rattle and a few other precious items. It isn't one of her favorites that she drags around as much (her Alice doll currently holds that title). But from time to time, she'll become fascinated with it again - that's why you see the big smile on the doll's face.

Certain toys will move on to donation centers, but one thing is for sure: we're not ever getting rid of this doll. In fact, tonight in bed, we have two other dolls that sit at the end of the bed: Rowlf the Dog and Rosie the Cat. Both have seen quite a bit of action. Rosie the Cat was won at a Catholic school's fundraising bazaar by Mommy's mother. For just a dime, Mommy got Rosie as a prize when she was six years old, and now has a lifelong friend. Daddy doesn't know where or when Rowlf the Dog came from, but he's had that puppet since he was around six. Rowlf has always been Daddy's favorite muppet, but this Rowlf has a special place in Daddy's heart. The two stuffed animals have stitches galore, and a whole lot of wear and tear - but they sit proudly at the foot of our bed. They're both still smiling too!