A Bunny at Last

When my oldest daughter was 4 months old, my mom gave her a red stuffed bunny for her first Christmas. She named him red bunny and he became her favorite toy and started her life long love for bunnies. Not only would she sleep with it, each and every night, she would also suck on its ear, as if it was a pacifier. She did this so much that the ear became black and her teeth started getting black marks on them. We tried to have her switch ears to no avail. In the end, we had to cut off the bunnies ear making him Vincent Van Bunny.

Now she has had a couple of dozen stuffed bunnies over the years, none of them as important to her as red bunny. Until, I should say, a few years ago at her cousin's birthday party at build-a-bear when she brought home Alice. Alice became her new best friend and bedtime companion. The great thing about Alice for us was that she was the best consequence we could ever use to discipline her. When we'd ask her to bring Alice to us, and she knew we meant business!



Soon after she got red bunny, she became enamored with real bunnies and especially the possibility of owning one. She began to learn the ins and outs of the bunny business. When she was almost 3, she taught me that baby bunnies are called kittens. When she was about 5, to curb the requests for a bunny, we told her that when she was 10, we would get a pet. Well quite honestly, we never quite expected her to become 10. But 5 +5 is alas, 10 and today I bought my bunny her first real bunny.



About 6 weeks ago she and I went bunny searching at the Kane County Fair. We encountered a girl who had 6, 2 week old bunnies and was willing to sell one to us after they were weaned. Emma was keen on getting a girl bunny and the seller was pretty sure that at least one of the kittens would be a girl. Earlier this week, I contacted the seller and alas, all 6 kittens were boys. She did have a 6 month old doe, and she was willing to sell her. Bunny decided that she would rather have an 8 week boy than a 6 month girl. Yesterday we bought all the needed equipment and today we bought the bunny, a grey jersey wooley, which Bunny has named Smoky. In a future post, I will put up pictures of the 3 most significant bunnies (stuffed and otherwise) in her life. But the most significant bunny in MY life is my little bunny girl!

Next Time: 7 Word September