Daddy Bear

The other day we went to Build-a-Bear at Destin Commons. We had decided to get Lydia a "Daddy Bear" for her birthday. We were hoping that this bear would replace the little purple bear that she has been carrying around pretty much since she was born. We were not sure how that was going to go since she is very attached to her purple bear. If you look at some of my old posts, you will definitely see her old bear in a lot of the pictures. So, we went and picked out a bear and found an Air Force uniform to put on it. The only problem was that it was an enlisted uniform and Joel is going to be an officer. So, we in our infinite creativity figured we could modify the uniform to make it an officer. When we got home, we took a seam ripper and took off the stripes that were on the sleeve and then we took some of Joel's butter bars and added them on the shoulder and on the hat. It looks really good I think. We were really hoping to find a flight suit for the bear, but no such luck. So, we got the bear, Lydia was not too interested in helping make it, but we had fun. :) We got home and that night we told Lydia that Daddy was going to be going to school in a couple of weeks and he would be gone for a long time. We told her that daddy got her this bear so when she misses him, she can hold and hug that "Daddy Bear". I forgot to tell you that we put a recording in it's hand, and when Lydia presses the hand, it is her daddy saying, "Lydia, I love you, I miss you. Can you give me a big squeeze? (pause) Awww, thank you!" It is the sweetest thing. Every time that plays, Lydia gives the bear a hug. So, when she misses daddy, she can hear his voice and hug her Daddy Bear. We decided to give it to her that night instead of wait for her birthday because we are going on vacation on Wednesday and wanted the transition to the new bear to be done. That night when we put her to bed, we laid her "Daddy Bear" beside her and started to leave the room and she asked, in a panicked voice, "other bear?" so we told her that the other bear went Bye-bye. We closed the door and we were not sure if she would accept that answer, but she seemed to do fine and go to sleep without her purple bear. It was great. It has now been 2 nights and she has not asked for her other bear again. Just a note, we are keeping her purple bear in case when daddy leaves, it is too traumatic and she just will not do without her old bear, but we are thinking that this went over very well. We will see how she does on our trip to IA. Here are some pictures of her "Daddy Bear".