Fluffy

Tyler's friend, Eli, had a birthday party today at the greatest place ever! Build-A-Bear!! Eli's parents were so generous and let each of the guests choose a bear and an outfit to celebrate Eli's 3rd birthday and then they took us to McDonalds for lunch. It was so much fun!!! Unfortunately, Tyler exhibited a strong attachment to the word, "no" once he entered the beautiful Bear land and it got quite exhausting for mommy. He chose his dog very quickly, the fluffy one with the spots. After getting his name printed on the tag, the party was moved to the stuffing machine.

They all had to sit on the floor and wait their turn while each child got their stuffed animal "filled." To keep the toddlers occupied, the girl passed around a miniature version of Tyler's puppy to hold. Whoever was holding it when she finished stuffing got to have theirs filled next.
Everyone waited so patiently. Passing the puppy proved to be a challenge. Everyone, especially my son, wanted to hold it indefinitely. When it was Tyler's turn to stuff, he had to be forced to give up his puppy.

Once it was stuffed, we still had a few dollars to spend so we looked for an outfit. Everything I showed him was "no," even the fishing pole with fish and the USA t-shirt. I even told him he could have the miniature puppy to match his. At that point, he handed me the big dog and told me he wanted the little one. Of course, that only lasted a second and he had to have the big one back. Eventually, he chose something for Mikayla's bear (so generous of my little guy). So here is a picture of my son and his nude dog which he named "Fluffy."

And here's the gang.

Thank you Eli!!!!! (and Eli's parents!)

Oh, yeah...the picture. Lena will agree with me when I say this was the LAST thing Tyler wanted to do...have his picture taken with mommy. Shy? I guess I'll go with that because it makes me feel better. He doesn't like attention and I think the whole day was a little overwhelming without big sister around so I'll give him a little leeway today...

We had a great time!