A Girl and Her Bunny

When Kate was a baby, my mom and dad gave her a small JellyCat bunny for Easter.  She played with it some, but it basically got put into a box with lots of other stuffed animals that just sat in her room.  Kate likes Barbies and figurines (like Lion Guard plastic animals, etc) but was never one to play with stuffed animals or baby dolls. Just wasn't her thing.

When Karsten was born, we pulled out a few small stuffed animals for her room and the JellyCat bunny was one of them.  Almost from the first time she held that bunny, she became attached. She has since named him "Bunny" or "Bun Bun" and he goes everywhere with her.

 

There have been a couple of almost-disasters with Bunny when we have misplaced him. Cooper also snatched Bunny out of Karsten's arms one day and ran around the yard with him in his mouth. If we had lots of neighbors, Karsten's screams would have sent everyone running. (In reality, we don't really have many neighbors close to us, so there wasn't a false alarm.)

After the Cooper incident, we got a backup.  And then the backup ended up staying at my Mother in Law's house because we left bunny up there multiple times and had to drive to her house at 10pm a few nights to get him because Karsten wouldn't go to sleep without him. 

So we got another backup.  We now have three bunnies and I'm hopeful that these last us a while!

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Bunny has definitely been Karsten's first friend. She's had a few other stuffed animals that randomly make their way to her arms. We've had a stuffed Max from Secret Life of Pets, a stuffed Simba and Nahla, and a few others.  Karsten has played with them a few times, but nothing will replace Bunny.

 

Bunny has been with Karsten through so many growing pains in just a few short years.  He's been there to comfort her when she has gotten a boo boo.  He's been there for her to snuggle with every night.  She needs him at bedtime to fall asleep, but somehow she still needs him through the night because she'll be clinging to him tightly hours later when I check on her. He's been there to keep her brave in church nursery when the separation anxiety was intense. She's dressed him up in sunglasses, held him up to watch tv, read him stories, given him sips of her apple juice, and probably tried to shove a cheerio or two in his mouth. But hey, isn't that what friends are for? 

              

We joke that Bunny may end up going to college with Karsten.  :)  And just maybe he will.

I know one thing though, if this girl grows up to love Jesus as much as she currently loves this bunny, God can use her to do great things. And that's my biggest prayer for both Karsten and her big sister- that they know and love Jesus.