Carter's Menagerie!

One of my very favorite things about being the mommy of a four year old is having a front row seat to his imagination. He recently has been very into several of his stuffed animals. I guess it is a little weird to dedicate a blog post to your son's stuffed animal collection, but it is one of those things about him that I don't want to forget. So, allow me to formally introduce you to some of Carter's favorite friends.

Doggy has been a very important part of our family since Carter was born. This is the one animal that travels with him, always sleeps with him, and comforts him when he is sad or scared. This is the one that he absolutely cannot live without. We lost Doggy this summer and went to great lengths to purchase an identical replacement. Now we have two, and I will keep them both long after he outgrows them because he is such a sentimental little critter.

Bear is a close number two to Doggy. They are normally together, but Bear does not possess the same magical comforting powers as Doggy.

Baby Max made his way into our family when I was pregnant with Evyn. Carter really wanted a baby of his own, and this was the most masculine one I could find. Max gets bathed and changed regularly. He has his own stroller that Carter proudly pushes. He feeds him and even breastfed him when I was nursing Evyn. Carter carries his "diaper bag" and is such a sweet little daddy to Max. I personally like the knee high socks that Carter insisted on him wearing for this picture.

Scotty, Spotty, and Buster (from left to right) are new additions to our family. Grammy gave them to Carter for Christmas. They have interchangeable sweaters and leashes. Carter loves to dress them, walk them, and feed them. These three have a more mischievous streak than most of his other friends. And Buster is not quite house trained yet, but we are working diligently on that.

Sad Frog's red mouth turns down at the corners, hence his name. He is really old and has a rattle inside of him. I stole him from a friend in college because I always played with him in her room, and Carter stole him from me. Sad Frog tends to be accident prone.

Postcop is a toy from Sonic- I believe he is supposed to be a tater tot/bat. Postcop came into our family right before we went to Carlsbad and has had a special place in Carter's heart since then. The very first time that he got to choose anything that he wanted to take to school for show and tell, this is what he took. I personally do not understand his affinity for this particular toy, but they say that love is blind.

Moosey goes with the book "If you give a moose a muffin." This is one of Carter's very favorite books, so Moosey earned his love by extension. Carter frequently leaves Moosey on the couch with a book while he naps.

Little Lamb was a gift for Evyn, but Carter completely hijacked her before she was born. It is clearly a girl's toy, but this does not stop him. His favorite thing to do with Little Lamb is swaddle her in a blanket. She also has bandaids all over her head.

Elephant was a gift "from Evyn" for Carter while we were in the hospital. He was so astonished that his baby sister would get him a gift and he treasures this animal for that reason. Sweet.

Curious George is Carter's very favorite TV show. No matter what I might be doing at 7 am on any given weekday, I must stop to come clap and cheer when George comes on. It is tradition. Carter stole this friend from my mom's house. He often watches PBS kids with us in the mornings.

Lamp is an enormous stuffed horse. Carter named him one day while we were in the living room and he was in a "name things whatever I am looking at" phase. He loves to use Lamp as a pillow.

Speaks is a puppet that sings every time you make his mouth close. Carter likes to feed Speaks apple slices (not sure why) and named her after the show "Martha Speaks" where a dog eats alphabet soup and then starts talking.

Shamu. Not much explanation needed!

Snowflake and Summowitz are stick horses. It always makes me giggle when he wants to sleep with these two because it just can't be comfortable to sleep with two sticks, but he does it anyway. Sometimes we have races. Usually he feeds them pretend apples and carrots.

And last but not least, his very favorite friend is his sister. He loves to squeeze and kiss her. He can make her laugh like nobody else. He holds her hand, shares his toys, wipes her nose, and sings to her. He is protective of her and genuinely kind to her. I hope that these two will be good friends for years to come!