Fire dog...

Gage was given a gift certificate to Build-a-Bear for his second birthday, so I (Tara) got to take him to the mall to build his own stuffed animal. He chose a dog that quickly became "Fire Dog" when he selected the clothes (see last picture).

He didn't want to help stuff it. He was quite content, in fact, watching the man work the foot pedal to stuff Fire Dog to the appropriate softness. He did have an opinion about the number of hearts that should be put inside his new pet: two. I thought that was funny! Why, after all, would a two-year-old have any idea that we only have one heart?

I liked watching Gage try on the tiny fire hat, not so much on the dog's tiny head but on his big toddler head.

Here, Gage is squirting Fire Dog's fire hose. The whole experience was rather comical. Gage was sort of all over the place--less focused than I thought he might be since we got to go just the two of us--and was as interested in the cardboard "dog house" that his new pet came home in as the dog itself. In fact, when the first one broke at home (hmmm, I think that Big Brother had a little something to do with that) he insisted that we get him a new house. Now Fire Dog is the resident guard dog in the corner of Gage's bed, but his fire clothes are currently being worn by Gavin's monkey (go figure) with the very original name "Fire Monkey," which works out just fine since fire suits are far too scratchy for soft, cozy beds anyway.