Ryan's "Everybuddies"

Some of you may know Tiny and Trooper, others may even know Ms. Whaley and Wee-wee Cat.  Did you know that Ryan's gang of stuffed toys has grown to 12? A dozen, yep! From left to right in pic above, I will introduce them all:  Bumblebee, Birdie, Douglas, Trooper, Fuzzy Wuzzy, Miss Kitty, Ms. Whaley, McQueen, Froggy (holding...Hound the Hound, the smallest one) and Tiny (not the smallest one, ironically).

Over the Christmas holiday, Ryan's love for his stuffed animals grew and so did his collection and his demands.  Now, when we leave, we HAVE TO bring at least Tiny and Trooper and one or two other buddies.  Usually, Ryan chooses Ms. Whaley and Wee-wee Cat.  Other times, he chooses Douglas instead of Wee-wee.  He is allowed to bring 4 on the car ride and only 2 in the place we are going.  And who gets to leave the car?  You guessed it...Tiny and Trooper aka TNT.  When we returned to school on Monday after such a long break, I let him put all 12 in the car to ride to school.  He had to put them all in and take them all out by himself.  He did. (-:

I am glad Ryan has all these buddies.  He calls them "Everybodies" or "my friends" or even "my babies" & I decided that "Everybuddies" would be a good name for his crew.  They came to us from different people during different times in Ryan's life & even before.  I remember where or who each one came from save Tiny and Hound the Hound. (And, I swear those two are McDonalds toys inherited from who knows where).  You may recognize one of those little guys or gals yourself...maybe it was a baby shower gift, a Christmas gift or a just because gift.  But the nice thing is that they are all loved - just like the people who brought them into our lives.

Finallly, you may have wondered how they got such creative (or not so creative) names and whether they all go to sleep in Ryan's bed at night.  Ryan has named many of them himself.  I am sure you can guess which ones Ryan named...Bumblebee, Birdie, Froggy, etc...but Ryan DID name Wee-Wee Cat, Ms. Kitty and Ms. Whaley.  I think Fuzzy Wuzzy was a joint effort while Tiny, Trooper, and Douglas are named after the little tag on their body.  As for bedtime, yes, I would say at least 10 make it into his bed with Tiny and Trooper held in his arms a lot of the time.  He hugs Ms. Kitty a lot too. She is squishy.

With that said, here are some snapshots of Ryan and the Everybuddies in everyday life:

Back when the crew was "smaller" - oh, and evidently, Pooh, has been kicked out

His besties...

Ms. Whaley on a train ride...please note this was mainly a puppy affair

Together again ... after school this past Wednesday

With his best friend, Finn, over Christmas break.  And a human one at that!

Adios, muchachos...see videos below.

Video 1 is naming his friends. Please note he gets confused at the end but Hound the Hound came to us last week when we were putting away Christmas decorations, and he was found in a box from the attic.

Video 1:  Christmas morning.