The "Week of EJ," Part II

So, school cupcakes on Friday before her birthday and then it was "time with Mommy and Daddy" on her actual birthday...and we headed to Build-A-Bear!

After we had some lunch, we headed over to Build-A-Bear...it was my first time there ever (it wasn't as bad as I thought! It was actually quite cute and fun!), and obviously, by EJ's looks, it was her first time there, too!

We let her pick two stuff animals...and, after picking the first bear (pink, which would stay at Daddy's*), we sort of leaned towards the purple matching bear for Mommy's house.
(Yes, it IS sad to have to get duplicates of things (or similar) so she can have a sense of peace at either house...so much of "all" of it is sad, and will continue to be sad as she grows, BUT like so much of it thus far, all I can do is acknowledge "it" (the sadness) for what it is, take a deep breath, make the very best of the circumstance for EJ's sake and for my own growth and continue moving onward.)

Like most any kid, she was pretty enthralled with the bear-stuffing process. The workers there were really nice, too...never got the feeling that they were sick of saying the same thing 150 times each day.

See that pedal on the floor?  For the remaining "virgin Build-A-Bear-ers" :) , that lil' pedal is for the kids to help run the big machine to her left, which stuffs the animals.

Afterwards, kids can give them their first "bath," which is also cute.  Check out this video to see it in action, too:
Giving Bears' First Baths

HUGS!
So, they originally got names for some friends at school - the pink one was Zoe and the purple one was Maddie...and that's what their bear birth certificates say.  ...but the pink one (like ALL her other stuffed animals - not kidding) now has EJ's exact first name, and now the purple one is Mommy.  Sounds kinda cute and all, but there were meltdown moments throughout her bday, and she quickly decided she didn't like the purple one (how sad)...she's better now and is OK with the purple one, but she only wants to give me that bear to hold or cuddle with while she's holding on to something else.  She keeps saying, "No, Mommy, that's Mommy's bear...that's YOUR bear."  So, that dang purple bear gets hugs and kisses, before its made to be re-snuggled back with EJ...just to reiterate that it's HER bear that Mommy wanted HER to have!!

Even though she's big for her age...
Little girl - big chair

Showing off her Christmas tree cookie