Boys And Their Dolls

Two summers ago, we went to Boston to visit my cousin, Melissa, and her family. Melissa's son, Evan, is Zachary's age and at the time was in love with the Knuffle Bunny books. Quickly our kids fell in love with them, too. For Christmas, Annalise decided that that was what she wanted to give to Zachary. She found the book and said, "I wish we could get him the doll, too. He would really love that." I humored her, thinking to myself, "We'll never find that doll." And of course, two seconds later, "There it is!" We were our local bookstore, which doesn't sell things like that. They sell books. And coffee. That's it. It was meant to be. We bought Knuffle Bunny, brought her home to Zachary, and the love story began.

Actually, it began slowly. He like Knuffle Bunny in the beginning. She slept with him at night, and cuddled with him when we read stories (sometimes). She was definitely number one in the stuffed animal queue, but she wasn't his constant companion. Now Knuffle Bunny goes with us on trips and errands. She gets buckled up in her own seat in the car when Zachary doesn't need to cuddle with her. She has her own wardrobe and her own personality and set of problems. Yesterday, Knuffle Bunny had a fever, so she couldn't come with us to take Zachary to school. She slept on her own bed (Juliette's changing table), where she would be more comfortable, wrapped in a blanket. The first thing Zachary asked when I picked him up was, "How is Knuffle feeling?" He checked on her right away and decided that she needed more rest. Last night she was feeling well enough to sleep with Zachary and when I came in this morning, his arms were wrapped around her tight!

I love that Zachary has a doll! He is such a masculine boy, SO full of testosterone, and has been since the very beginning. Knuffle Bunny has brought out such a sweet, caring, nurturing side of Zachary. (Honestly, so has Juliette, though. He really is VERY sweet with her.) I love this new side of my down and dirty boy. He is so much more complicated than we have given him credit for in the past. He's a real love, that one.