Riding in the car with her doll

Normally I don't allow Astrid to bring dolls with her in the car (since it clutters up the car and then we risk her forgetting the doll somewhere and losing it altogether), but on the drive to my parents' house (Grandma & Grandpa's house), I let her bring her doll in her carrier so she had something to play with over at their house.

After these photos were taken she fell asleep holding the doll protectively back in it's carrier. It was so cute. Like a little mommy.

Reading to her doll

Astrid reads her Christmas book to her doll.

Astrid putting a diaper on her doll

Astrid bottle feeding her doll

Homemade baby doll (compliments of mommy)

Astrid's doll accidentally got left behind in LA, and so this whole trip she has looked longingly at dolls being held by other girls. She'd point and ask to play with their doll, but most of the girls wouldn't share their doll with her.

Then this evening at the playground, another little girl let her play with her baby doll and toy bottle, which was nice for awhile, until the girl wanted them back. If I hadn't been there to supervise Astrid would have taken the bootie and run. I made her give the items back and thank the girl for letting her play with them. Astrid said "thank you" in between sobs. It was such a sad sight to see, Astrid being so broken hearted over not having her own doll.

I remembered there was a boutique baby store close to where we were staying, so I took Astrid's hand and we ran over there. The lady was just closing the shop as I knocked on the door. I explained the situation about how we left her doll in LA and were staying in NY for a week, and she was so broken hearted about it, I wanted to get her a new doll. The heartless woman said, "I don't think we carry any dolls." I looked around and saw several stuffed animals and toys that would do the trick, but the lady just acted like she wanted to go home, instead of making an instant sale.

So determined was I (never underestimate the power of a mom's creativity in situations like these) I decided to go back to our apartment and make Astrid a doll. I thought about what I had, and what materials I could use. What I ended up doing was taking Astrid's small stuffed animal monkey, wrapping Astrid's pajama top around the bottom to make a bigger body, taking a cut out of a baby's face from Parenting magazine and placing it over the face, and wrapped my shirt around the head, to keep the face in place.

Here's the end result. Not bad for having limited materials.I thought Astrid might not take to it, because it looked strange, but just the opposite happened. She smiled and said, "Baby" and cradled it in her arms right away. Then she asked for a bottle. So I took some paper, rolled it up, and made a makeshift bottle out of it.It wasn't a problem finding the mouth (with those big lips).It was sweet to see her so intent on feeding it and cuddling with it. All smiles saying, "Mommy did it. Mommy did it. Baby!" The strangest doll she's ever held, but she still loved it.When U. got home from his business dinner, he wondered what the cut out baby faces were doing on the kitchen counter. (I experimented with a few.) I was asleep and so he had to wait until the morning for an explanation, and to actually see the doll that Astrid went to bed with.I decided to change the face to this one with big blue eyes (which looked less like a burn victim). Astrid thought it was funny.

Astrid was happy and content and so was I. I wasn't able to buy her a doll in a pinch, but we made do with what we had, and with a little imagination, she had her own baby doll.

Pushing her doll on the swing

Wearing a golf glove while holding her doll

Astrid likes to wear U.'s golf glove.

After her nap today she was having fun wearing papa's glove while holding her doll.

Astrid reading to her doll

The doll (Astrid calls her "baby") is wrapped in Astrid's baby blanket, in her dolly cradle, and Astrid is reading and singing to her baby (to put her to sleep).

Astrid playing with her doll

The sweetest thing to watch now is Astrid playing with her dolls. Before she would carry them around and talk to them, but now she pretend plays with them. She wraps them in a blanket and puts them to bed - reads to them and sings to them. The other day she was even holding and patting her doll's back and rocking back and forth (like I do with Astrid) to make the baby fall asleep.Today she strapped her doll (from the Virgin Islands) into her high chair, put her bib on it and pretended to give her a drink of water.So adorable.

They really do copy what they see people doing around them. She also tell her dolls (and the dog) to "sit down" a lot. I guess U. and I need to cut back on saying that, and come up with something different.

My Little Dolly

Doesn't she look like a little dolly?

Astrid was dressed for the occasion. She had on a pretty pink dress with a matching pink hat. (Her daddy picked out the outfit.)

I'm standing in front of a mirror, holding her and taking this picture. You can't tell from this photo, but Astrid couldn't stand the hat. I had to get this shot off real quick before she started crying. ("Come on mom, take the picture already.")

Here's my dolly again. This time without the hat.