Bye bye Sophie the Giraffe

Over breakfast this morning, we introduced Sophie to Julianne by going through all the Flickr photos my brother-in-law has been posting. Sophie has known about Baby Julianne for as long as she could see my sister's growing belly and was so excited to finally see her cousin- "I want to see Baby Julianne on the compooter, Mama!". Sophie was of course adoring of Julianne-- "Oh Baby Julianne shooooooo cute!"-- and we're really looking forward to the two cousins "hanging out" more when we go home for Christmas.

Later, on the way to daycare, Jude asked her if she would pick out a toy as a gift to Julianne- not something new but something that belongs to her so that it would be special.

Jude: Sophie, when we get home tonight, can you choose one of your toys so that we can give it to Julianne as a present?
Sophie: Errr, ok.
Me: Pick one. Something that you play with.
Sophie: And then we can surprise Baby Julianne!
Jude: That's right, we can surprise Baby Julianne. What will you pick? Which toy?
Sophie: (after thinking about it for a while). Squeaky giraffe. I give my squeaky giraffe to Baby Julianne so that she can surprise. Yah, I can give squeaky giraffe.
Me: Are you sure you want to give Julianne your squeaky giraffe?
Sophie: Yah. I think she will like it.

At that point, I couldn't have been more proud of our sweet, thoughtful Sophie :) Not only did she not balk at the prospect of giving away one of her toys (although whether she will *really* give it up is still questionable, but still...), she chose one of her most beloved ones.

Sophie at 4 months with her Sophie the Giraffe

My mom bought Sophie her Sophie the Giraffe chew toy when she was 6 weeks old (we've actually never called the giraffe Sophie just because it would have been too confusing) and it has always been one of her favorites. The giraffe played a huge part in helping Sophie develop her grabbing skills, it was always available for her to gnaw, chew, and suckle during those dastardly teething months, and even now as she's outgrown it somewhat, Sophie the Giraffe is still a constant fixture in Sophie's play repertoire. Just yesterday, she set up a picnic with her dolls, stuffed animals, and Sophie the Giraffe and thoughtfully fed it a hunk of pretend steak. I didn't have the heart to tell her that giraffes are herbivores.

But now, she has decided that it's her cousin's turn to play with the giraffe and tonight, we'll put Sophie the Giraffe aside, give it a good scrub down, and put it in a bag for Julianne. My sister already has a brand new Sophie the Giraffe but maybe that Sophie will appreciate having a companion giraffe from real Sophie and Julianne will have double the grabbing, chewing fun :)

And because she's just that gorgeous, here's another photo of Julianne fresh off my sister's Flickr feed :)

Hush little baby

[Sophie the Giraffe got its own article in Slate earlier this year. Read it here.]