Nat'l Teddy Bear Day

This past Friday, September 9th was National Teddy Bear Day. I heard through the grapevine that Build a Bear was offering bears for $5 so I thought it would be the perfect time to take Jacob and build his first bear. 

I loaded him up once I got home from school and we arrived around 4 after a half hour drive. There was a line out the door, but we got one of their last $5 bears. I found out later that we were super lucky. Other stores sold out within minutes of opening. How our closest store still had bears at 4pm is beyond me. 

Once we got our bear we waited in line to get our new friend stuffed. This turned out to be the hardest part of the outing as I had anticipated it being crowded and didn't bring the stroller. Little man did not like standing nicely with me to wait in line. I ended up having to hold him on one hip with the diaper bag on the other shoulder for most of the time, until we got near the end and there was a single chair. I plopped him down in that chair faster than you could blink. 

When it was finally our turn the employee let Jacob help which thrilled him. First he got to help press the pedal to make the stuffing machine turn on. His foot wasn't strong enough to hold the petal down by itself so he got creative. 

Then he got to turn the valve that determines how much stuffing comes out at once. He turned that dial back and forth all over the place, which meant the employee had some work to do evening out the stuffing inside the bear after wards. 

Once his bear was all stuffed Jacob got to give him a bath. He LOVED this! He's so used to us giving him baths that it was super cute to see him mimicking the things we say and do while giving his bear a bath. He was a little frustrated that the water wasn't real, but I was thankful for that since a 30 minute ride home with a soaking wet kid is not my idea of fun. 

After a bath, your next stop is their clothing section. Clothing wasn't included in the $5 sale so I wasn't planning on purchasing any unless they had a Halloween costume to match Jacobs. (More on that later!!) They didn't have that particular costume, (I was able to order it online though) so we checked out without any clothes. 

When you check out they package your bear in a big box that looks like a house, which is super cute! Jacob noticed this right away, telling me "Bear is in the house!" 

Jacob has fallen completely in love with his bear. When we left the mall he wanted to take him out and show him the fountains. Then, when a passerby commented on how cute his bear was he hugged him tight and said "It's MY bear!" Just in case she thought it might be for her. He cuddled him the whole way home and insisted he sleep in the crib with him. He's smitten and it's so precious. 

Despite the crowds we both had a great time celebrating National Teddy Bear Day with our first trip to Build a Bear! You'll have to wait until closer to Halloween to find out what Jacob and his Bear will be dressed up as! 

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