Her Bear-y Best Friend

When Norah was just a few weeks old, we received a package in the mail from my Great Aunt Lilas, containing a brown teddy bear, with two, hand-knit sweaters. Norah never paid much attention to it until a couple of weeks ago, and then out of no where, a kinship was sparked. "Bear", as she calls him, has become a seemingly semi-permanent fixture in her arms. (Jason and I laughed Sunday, when we overheard her telling him, "Bye-bye, Bear" as she headed out the door to church--guess she knew we wouldn't let her take him to Bible class)

Her favorite bear-trick of late is to put him on her "soldiers" and "run fast" in circles or up and down the hallway. (She first did this after Daddy put her on his shoulders...I guess she figured if she liked it, then Bear would too)





She goes to sleep with him at night and wakes up with him in the morning.
















She takes him in the car, to the store...













She even shares her ice cream with him!













Here she is giving him a "bath" in his "bucket"

















It looked like so much fun, she thought she'd give it a try too.
















Then Grandmother informed her that she wouldn't be able to fit both feet in the "bucket", so naturally, she had to prove her wrong.












Of course, it was bound to happen, eventually...with all the toting around, we finally managed to leave Bear in a shopping cart, following a rushed trip to JoAnn's on Tuesday. I realized he was missing as I pulled into the garage, and called JoAnn's to see if he had been discovered. Thankfully, we frequent JoAnn's, and the friendly staff had not only already found Bear, but had recognized him, labeled him as "Norah's bear" and put him in the back for the next time we stopped into the store. (I'm not sure how many of the employees there know my name, but everyone knows Norah).

When she realized he was missing, I explained to her that we had left him in the cart at JoAnn's. She seemed to understand, and (perhaps in light of my previous confession that we are in there a lot) she deemed it a safe enough place for him, for the time being. It was late, and I was tired, so I didn't go back for him that day (bad mom, I know). The next morning, Norah began asking for "Dough-Ann" fairly early. So, we made the trek back to the store, and there, a very happy little girl was reunited with her bear-y best friend. (So, of course, a bear hug was in order)




I even double-checked with her on the way home to be sure she still had him...and she did. He's safe and sound in bed with her right now. I'm just thankful that her first lesson in responsibility had a happy ending. (I have a feeling he'd have been a goner at Walmart!)