It All Started With Elmo

Sometime over the summer, we took Tiny and Buba on their first trip to Toys R Us. We had a gift card, so we went just to browse and see if there was anything the kids might like. And the kids definitely saw something they liked- Elmo Live. This Elmo talks, sings, tells jokes, laughs, and blows kisses. This was their first exposure to Elmo, and Buba and Tiny could not get enough. And the best part was when we turned on about 10 of these Elmos all at once. Buba and Tiny went nuts- smiling, laughing, waving their little hands. They had the best time just sitting in the stroller watching Elmo Live perform over and over and over. But our gift card didn’t even come close to covering the cost of this magic Elmo, so we left empty handed.

Not long after the Toys R Us trip, I found a Sesame Street book (Cookie See! Cookie Do!) in a box of items passed on from my sister-in-law. I put it out in one of the kids’ book bins, and it wasn’t long before Tiny discovered the book and found Elmo inside. (“Eeemo! Eeemo!” she cried.) Although she definitely recognized Elmo, not knowing the names of the other characters, she started calling them Eeemo too. So as we read the book together, I pointed out the other characters, telling Buba and Tiny, “This one is Big Bird. And this one is Cookie Monster.” And of course, it wasn’t long before they knew all of those characters by heart and realized that they are also on Buba’s diapers.

While I resisted buying anything associated with characters of any kind for so long, I suddenly couldn’t resist. Tiny and Buba get so excited when they see any character from the Sesame Street gang, that I just had to pick up a few items while doing a little holiday shopping. So, this year they will each find an Elmo t-shirt (yellow for Buba, pink for Tiny), a big bird whistle, and a small character doll (Elmo for Buba, Abby Cadabby for Tiny) in their stockings on Christmas morning. I can’t wait to see their faces as they pull each one out. And who knows, maybe one day, I’ll even let them watch the show.

Oh Where Oh Where Have the Boy Baby Dolls Gone?

Last Easter, I bought Tiny and Buba a baby doll.

I bought a soft bodied one because, at the time, I didn’t think they were ready for one with a plastic head and limbs. They didn’t seem to know what to do with it, so from time to time I’d pick up the doll, rock it, give it a bottle, give it kisses. And over time, they started to mimc these behaviors. But for the most part, the doll just stayed in the toy box unless I dragged it out.

Then this fall, we went to a of playgroup and there was one of those plastic baby dolls lying around. Buba was instantly drawn to it, and Tiny followed closely behind. There was also a little, pink, plastic doll carriage (pram style), and Buba had the best time pushing that baby doll all around the room. So I decided, right then and there, that I wanted to get them both their own baby doll and stroller for Christmas this year. I found that to be so much easier said than done.

My mission: I had it in my head that I wanted to get them these cute little boy/girl twin dolls that I had seen last year. Except it seems that they are no longer available. No biggie. I’d just get something else. They didn’t have to be twin dolls, but I had it in my head that I would get a newborn baby girl for Tiny and a newborn baby boy for Buba- preferably from the same toy company so the dolls would be similar in size and appearance. I also had decided that I wanted to get them each a pram style stroller so they could just plop their babies in and go and not have to worry about fastening and unfastening any straps. When I created this plan, this all seemed very reasonable.

Problem #1: no pram like strollers & Problem #2: majority of doll stroller are pink- Okay, this isn’t completely true. But there didn’t seen to be anything to my liking. I wanted to spend $30 or less for each stroller, which narrowed my choices. And I wanted to find one for Buba that wasn’t pink. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying a boy can’t push a doll in a pink stroller. I’m sure Buba couldn’t care less what color the stroller is. But I really wanted a nice blue or green pram style stroller for him. And this made things very complicated.

Problem #3: cute newborn boy baby dolls are hard to find- So, it’s been decades since William’s Doll by Charlotte Zolotow hit the bookshelves, and yet here in the year 2009, I found it quite challenging to find a newborn boy baby doll. Again, this isn’t entirely a true statement. But they were much harder to find than I had anticipated. And sadly, some of the ones I found were not all that cute. The girl versions were all happy and smiling, while the boy dolls had flat emotions or sour puss faces. And that just would not do. I wanted Buba’s doll to appear just as happy at Tiny’s.

Mission adjusted and finally accomplished: Since I couldn’t seem to find the stroller I was looking for in stores or on Amazon, I decided to just do a google search to see what it might find. It brought up a nice wooden pram that was over $100, but that lead me to start searching for a wooden stroller. And I found two (not pram style, but without any straps to fasten), made in an Amish furniture shop in Pennsylvania. They were in my price range, so I took a chance and made my very first Ebay purchase. I didn’t buy the dolls until the strollers arrived, and I’m glad I waited, because they are on the small side (which is fine, since Tiny and Buba are too). Then I was on back on my mission to find two newborn baby dolls- one boy, one girl- about 12-14 inches, with happy faces. And just when I thought it couldn’t be done, I found two perfect Water Babies at Toys R Us. While I didn’t like the idea of having a doll filled with water in the hands of my toddlers (For the record, I have no intentions to fill these dolls with water to make them feel more “real”. They are perfectly fine just filled with a little air.), the newborn boy water baby was the only one that fit the rest of my criteria.

I am sure that Buba and Tiny are going to love these dolls and strollers the moment they see them on Christmas morning. But who am I kidding, they’re 21 months old, and chances are good that they would have loved any old doll and stroller combo I’d have come up with.

Nothing like Christmas shopping to make a mother crazy.