Blue Mouse Drama

It's a blessing to have friends all over the world. I love learning about different cultures and traveling vicariously through them. I have discovered one tricky aspect of it. Children's toys. Several internationally located friends sent baby gifts after Serene Jr. was born and I loved the novelty of seeing toys from outside the US.

Loved it until a few weeks ago, when the little blue stuffed mouse that Awesome S sent over became Serene Jr.'s inseparable companion. He will not let go of it. The mouse sleeps with him, eats with him, sits with him and reads with him.

So, I decided it was time to get a backup. Especially since the mouse was starting to smell. No matter how many times I washed it.

The mouse in question. Note the wellworn ears and frayed nose

The tail is also starting to go.

I didn't want to hassle Awesome S with purchasing multiple backups (she has a beautiful baby girl now and is well occupied) so I started some on-line research. The blue mouse is part of a Swedish line of stuffed animals called Diinglisar. Teddykompaniet makes them especially for babies. It was fun looking through all the photos of the other animals in the line, since they're all similarly long-limbed and have the same face design. It was like running into long-lost family members after living on your own for a long time.

I also found their Scandinavian woodland creatures line and found these adorable animals:

So cute!

Unfortunately, Teddykompaniet does not sell from their website. I finally located a company in the UK and ordered three (yes, three) blue mouse backups. They arrived today. With a small problem:

New mouse is on the right

Aaaah! I got the wrong size!!! After spending so many hours playing with the little mouse, I felt like three giants had arrived in the mail. Alas. Before opening the package, I told SJ that I would fix the mouse's nose tonight--figuring that I could sneakily swap the mice in the middle of the night. I'm afraid the ol' needle and thread will need to make an appearance while I figure out what to do with three giant blue mice. I am definitely not paying to ship them back to the UK!

Remind me to hide the stuffed Loch Ness Monster that my Scottish friend brought over.