Rusty

This is Rusty.

Hunter was never a pacifier baby or a thumb sucker. He never carried a favorite blanket around with him. However, this kid loves his stuffed puppy that he named "Rusty." Hunter was eighteen months old when he got Rusty as a present. We had tried to give him an incredibly soft teddy bear, a cute little stuffed elephant, and even made him a "build a bear" (Smasher) which he liked a lot but nothing compared to Rusty. He would carry Rusty with one arm under his neck and pack him around wherever we went. He would scratch his ears and talk to him, "Hey Rust, hey there puppy." He would hug him and kiss him and always had to have him to sleep next to him. Well that was then, this is now at four...

Yes, that's right, nothing has changed my friends. He still packs Rusty around everywhere he goes. The poor dogs neck is so stretched out that there isn't even any stuffing in it anymore and he resembles a giraffe more than a dog. His fur is all matted and he looks so scruffy. The tag says only surface wash but I admit it, I toss him in for a spin every now and then since he gets dragged around everywhere. The worst part of this whole thing is that Rusty is like a one of a kind. He is not a build a bear animal that we can just go replace at the mall. We have never seen another one just like him. So please let us never leave him at a store, lose him on a trip, or have him fall apart where he can't be repaired. We are just going to continue to watch Hunter enjoy him and love on him. The other day we went to the park and he got out of the car with Rusty in tow and headed for the playground. He carried Rusty around with him as he played with the other kids and older boys and wasn't embarrassed at all to be carrying around a stuffed animal. I smiled as I watched him because I know that someday all too soon that will go away. He will still love Rusty but it will no longer be "cool" to carry a stuffed animal around. So for now I watch him with his little arm around his neck introducing Rusty to his friends and feel grateful for his childlike love and innocence. I am soaking up every moment of him "still being little" and love that even at four when I see this... he is still my baby.