Llama! Llama!

When I was a little girl, I loved my stuffed animals. I mean, really, truly loved them. I used to rotate them so they each got played with the same amount as to not hurt any feelings (with the exception of Peaches who got lovin' everyday).

Shyla, however, for the first 24 months of life seemed to not even noticed that her stuffed animals existed. Perhaps I surrounded her with so many that they weren't special, they were just part of the background?

Until now.

For her 2nd birthday, our really good friends Hillary and Eric gave Shyla a llama and the book, "Llama, Llama misses Mama" and both have become instant hits. We read the book every morning before school (so it's a good thing that I like it too!) And Shyla snuggles with the llama every night and morning.

I am thrilled that she has a stuffed animal that she loves!

The only bad thing is that the word, "llama" is difficult to say and thus difficult to understand. She gets a little frustrated if she is (clearly) asking for her llama and no one is able to figure out what she wants (this often leads to us offering her fruit snacks or cookies or juice, which just tends to make her more angry because she really wants the llama). But, I think I've got it figured out for the moment....if she is asking for something that I don't understand, I go get Llama and usually that makes everything right with the world.

PS - Stevie is trying to convince her to name her llama, Dolly (or Dalai).