Elmo-mania

Elmo-mania has invaded our home this past month or so. We have three Elmos, 1 Elmo backpack, 1 Elmo phone, 1 Elmo bookmark, and a number of Elmo books and DVDs. Most of the Elmo stuff was Carson - or actually presents Carson received. The only Elmo thing we bought for him was 'Tickle Me Elmo' when he was 8 months old in the hospital.

With all of the Elmo-ness going on, you'd think we'd be set.

Not necessarily.

Elmo is a constant companion with Grace (as you can see by the sleigh ride pictures). Elmo also needs to be snuggled with at bedtime. Well, the 'other' Elmos all had batteries and did some sort of trick. Grace would entertain herself for a while before bed with all of the sounds of Elmo, thus delaying bedtime. Or, if she woke in the middle of the night, we'd often hear "Elmo's not ticklish there!" or "That tickles a little!" We thought about a 'battery-ectomy', but Grace is a smart girl. She would insist Elmo be fixed so he could make noise again.

So, yesterday I went in search of what we'll now call 'Quiet Elmo'. Sounds simple, right? A cozy Elmo with no batteries. Easy enough.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

Toys R Us had about ten Elmos - Elmo Live for $59.99 - he dances, sing, etc. Good grief! There's Potty Elmo, Baby Elmo, Bath Elmo (no batteries, but not cozy at all - very slick fabric) just to name a few. You get the idea.

So, off to Target. All of the above, plus a few more. Where do they come up with all of this? I finally found what is dubbed 'Classic Elmo' - you can puppet his mouth to open and close, but that's it. No batteries and he's cozy.

He's the perfect Elmo for bed and church.

Grace instantly fell in love with him. Of course, the others are treasures too. But she knows already that 'Quiet Elmo' is the only one that gets to snuggle in bed.

While I was out and about yesterday I also stopped at Party America to pick up birthday stuff for Grace. I'll give you three guesses what her birthday party theme will be. :-)