Scout and George

Scout is into a lot of things and has many toys that she loves, but none is more dear to her than Curious George. He is her pal, and has been for quite some time. When she only had a handful of recognizable words in her vocabulary, she was saying "George" consistently, though it sounded more like "Jo". She first fell in love with the movie, though she wouldn't sit still for any other movie or tv at the time. Then I grabbed a tumbling Curious George doll that Ryan's sister gave to Garrett, and she was hooked. That doll has slept with her every nap and bedtime since, and for a short while was eating three square meals a day at the table with Scout. She has since gotten into the tv show, and we're even using George for her birthday party theme this year. Garrett has even used him against her. Once, when Scout was snuggling with me on the couch, G grabbed George and walked across the room. She jumped down and ran to him screaming, "My George, my George!" G dropped him and ran into my lap. "I just wanted her to get down so I could sit with you," he admitted.

The very sweetest moment, however, was the day she actually met him. I heard that he was going to be at Barnes and Noble one Saturday morning, so we went. It was really packed, so she was more interested in watching the other kids than listening to the story lady read the book. As the story was ending, I noticed George (picture Mickey or Goofy at Disneyland) sneaking up the side of the crowd, making his way to the front. I got Scout's attention and turned her toward the stage just as he was stepping up. She froze. Her mouth hung open, and her eyes got wide. She slowly lifted a finger to point and whispered "George". It was great! Then the panic set in, and she was frantic to get over all of the people who were standing between her and her beloved friend. I convinced her that we needed to wait our turn in line, but it wasn't easy keeping her with me. Of course, when it was finally our turn, love turned to terror, and there was no way Scout was going to stand next to, much less touch, this giant George. She was still clearly interested in him, though, and didn't want to leave. I decided to wait with her near him while the line thinned out. Then, as the last kids were waving goodbye, I decided to try once again. Scout was not cooperative at first, but she quickly calmed and even reached out to touch George's hand with her fingertips. The entire walk from the back of the bookstore, across the parking lot and to our car, she was waving and calling, "Bye-bye George!"

I'm sure Scout will get into some things that I don't like or that I don't think are a good influence on her, but right now, I couldn't be happier about her love for a curious little monkey!