Build-A-Bear Bonanza

Matthew has been sleeping with Mondo the Monkey for the past year or so.  Mondo is from Build-a-Bear Workshop and was made by my sisters Natalie and Laura for Michael when he came home from Paris, France!  It dawned on me that by Matthew's age, Michael and Claire had already gotten at least two pets each from Build-a-Bear.  When I mentioned this to my Dad, he immediately said that Matthew had to get a gift card for St. Matthew's Day.  It just made sense to get Emily one, too as we knew she would equally enjoy it!

The two little kids were so excited for our fun trip to the mall.  We were going to first go to Build-a-Bear and then go to McDonalds for lunch.  What's not to love?  Upon entering the store, both Matthew and Emily were overwhelmed with delight.  Matthew chose immediately.  He wanted a cute little light brown bear.  It was the first in the line and also the least expensive.  I love that kid!  Emily, of course walked all the way down to the expensive bears and chose the huge Hello Kitty.  Um, love you Em.  But you will be choosing from the other side of the line!  She chose a cute little pink bear.

We proceeded to the stuffing station where Matthew and Emily each got to pick a song to put into their bear's paw.  Emily chose one that says, I Love You and Matthew chose the Happy Birthday Song.  Okay.  It wasn't his birthday but it was his day to choose what he wanted.  Next, they both picked a heart.  They rubbed it to get it warm, tapped it to make it start beating, and then made a wish before they put the heart into their bear's chest. 

Little by little, they filled their little bears until they were each of their desired plumpness.  Onto the table where they got to brush and dry off their new friend!  Neither of them stopped smiling.  They loved the whole experience so much! 

Then we got to fill out the new bear's birth certificates.  Matthew knew right away that he was going to name his bear Fluffy.  I thought it was a cute choice.  Emily wanted to name hers Shea (which is Claire's friends name) but I wanted her to name it something more original.  She chose the name Cotton Candy.  Perfect.

Finally, we were able to look at all of the cute outfits in the store and decide on our new friend's outfits.  Again, Matthew the quick decision maker, decided on a football uniform complete with helmet, mask, and football.  Not two seconds passed before Emily said, "I want that, too!"  I tried to show her all the girly outfits and even some Disney Princess outfits but she was not having it.  "No, I want Cotton Candy to wear football player."

So, (deep breath) we dressed both of the bears in football uniforms.  Matthew LOVED it!  He wasn't too happy that Emily had copied him but he was beyond happy with his choice.  Then the meltdown happened.  Emily no longer wanted Cotton Candy to be a football player.  I tried to explain that we had already taken the outfit out of the package and that we should just go pay for our new friends and have lunch . . . BUT SHE WASN'T HAVING IT.  Seriously.  Look at her face. 

One of the workers noticed that she was throwing a fit (and throwing her bear) and came over.  Once Emily had told her the dilemma, the woman said that it wasn't a problem and she could just choose a new outfit.  Part of me was a little bugged because I wanted to show Emily that when we are given the chance to make a good choice, we need to take time to think about it so we are happy in the end.  The other part of me told myself to GET REAL.  She is two, she was temporarily swayed by her brother's choice, just let her pick another item.  We looked around the store and she decided to get a Woody costume for her bear.  She was calling it a Jesse costume and I just decided to roll with it. Jesse it is!

The kids watched as the salesperson put their new pets in their new homes with huge smiles.  And as they walked away, hand in hand, I was so happy for them that they each had a new friend that was ALL their own.  And I was smiling and happy watching them walk away from the store knowing that we were all still in one piece.