
*Sensitive souls may not want to scroll down to the picture at the bottom of this post. Just saying.
So first of all, you have to understand that animals are THE THING in Bea's life. And when she learns something new about an animal, especially first hand, it is a BIG DEAL for a while. And when a personal interaction with an animal presents itself it is an even BIGGER DEAL. And, I am convinced, in order to process these big deals, she needs to re-enact the scenes. REALLY NEEDS. A biological/physical need as strong as the need to eat. Stronger maybe. (She skipped dinner last night.) When she needs to re-enact a scene with an animal, she feels she NEEDS a stuffed animal. If you know us well, you know I am not overstating the issue here. Things have gotten a little out of control at our house as far as stuffed animals go. (Now I am understating the issue.)
Yesterday we returned from a day out to find a white-winged dove dead in our backyard. We don't know but figure maybe he flew into a window. They do that sometimes but they usually recover. Anyway, we went out and visited the dove and talked about it. It was a BIG DEAL. Upon coming back into the house, Bea said, "Do we have a dove stuffed animal?" And the now (very) familiar discussion ensued.
Me: No, you don't have a dove. Do you have another animal that you could pretend is a dove?
Bea: NO!
Me: Oh, OK.
Bea: Well, what do I have?
Me: Well, how about your kestrel? That's about the same size.
Bea: No, it is more the size of a robin.
Me: OK, how about we use your robin.
Bea: No, they don't look the same.
Me: Well, what can we figure out?
...........
Bea: Maybe you could make me a dove.
Now, it's not like she's never asked me to make stuffed animal for her. And it's not like I've never tried to make her a toy before. There was the car, the cloud, the manatee later made from the cloud, the bunnies, the eggplant. More undoubtedly. But they were all received with a slight air of resigned disappointment. For this I was NOT in the mood to put forth much effort. I thought of the easiest way I could make it. Fabric markers. And this!?! This was a complete success. She jumped up and down while I roughly drew it. Watched carefully while I quickly sewed it. Jumped up and down while supervising the stuffing. And once she had it in her hand, ran around with crazy joy. Then she set about re-enacting and it was my turn to watch in awe.
She loves it! She loves it SOOOO MUCHHHH. She loves me! She loves me SOOOO MUCHHHH. Mommy! Look, he's sitting on his bowl of organic bird food! (Above) Mommy! The hungry cats have got him (Below). Mommy! Look, he's got a safe roosting spot and here is the tree and the eggs and the place for poop and here's the poop!! (not pictured)
She has plans for a whole cote now - doves (I need a mommy AND a daddy so one can sit with the eggs and one can keep away enemies! They do DIFFERENT things!), pigeons (I need a white one, a purplish one, a gray one! They come in DIFFERENT colors)... and who knows what else. I wish I would have thought of this sooner.
Or maybe I'm soon going to wish I hadn't thought of it at all. She woke me up at 5:00 this morning ready to start sewing.