Soon after you enter the big world and come home with us, one of the first of your belongings that you'll get to see is Bear-Bear. He doesn't have a name yet because we wonder what you'll call him yourself -- and if unoriginal "Bear-Bear" happens to stick, so be it. He is squishy and huggable and we hope he'll be a little comfort to you sometimes. And does he have a story!
I first saw Bear-Bear (or at least one of his siblings) at Babies R Us when I was shopping for supplies to make a diaper cake for my dear friend's baby early this year. You were just a distant dream, of course, but I fell in love with Bear-Bear when I first picked him up. Pure, undyed cotton velour and no small parts to fall off or get banged up, a smushy sort of texture and the cutest little stitched-on smile, a plump belly and a "Hug Me" tag above his tail -- who wouldn't love him? I bought him for the diaper cake topper along with some matching accessories and vowed that one day I'd get one for my own baby.
We'd seen Bear-Bear a couple more times while at BRU to get gifts for others, so I knew he was still around. At your 18-week mark, your daddy and I had still not purchased a single baby-related item for you, but decided that it was time to start at least thinking about things and preparing. I decided I would finally allow myself to go out and get Bear-Bear. When we went to the store where we'd seen him just a couple of weeks prior, I was dismayed to find the shelf empty and the price tag turned red with a new lowered price. My heart sank as the cashier confirmed that he'd been put on clearance and there were no more left. It didn't occur to me to inquire then, but later I did call around all the BRUs in the whole area to see if any of them had any Bear-Bears left. No luck!
After all the calling, I turned to the internet. BRU of course had taken it off their site, but I was soon able to discover that Bear-Bear was from a UK-based company and was only distributed in the States via BRU. The UK site didn't seem to ship directly to consumers and I spent a while searching the web for a UK site that would. I finally succeeded in ordering Bear-Bear from a company that had him in stock and shipped to the States, added a couple more cheap items to the basket to make shipping a little more worthwhile, and enjoyed a triumphant feeling for a good week or so... until I received a notice that the company had unfortunately ran out of the bear, removed him from my order and went ahead and shipped the rest. :( What?!
The UK site got a slightly disgruntled note from your mommy, and the parent company got an inquiry to see if maybe, just maybe, they might send to individual consumers in the States... but the saga was not to end this way. We headed to BRU today to check out prices for some different items and just get some ideas. I was comparing specs on infant car seats and noting prices (I hope the Chicco Keyfit 30 will be agreeable to you, dear, because that's probably what we'll get) when your daddy walked excitedly up to me and pushed into my arms... a plump little Bear-Bear. They must have found some more of him in the back and put them back up on the shelf.
The delight I had to finally get Bear-Bear for you is truly indescribable, admittedly mixed with a little sheepishness for all the trouble just for a little bear, but we have him and he is waiting with us to meet you. So that's the story of Bear-Bear -- so you can laugh at it with us later on. (It is also the story of how you came to have UK made, eco-friendly disposable bibs and a special UK baby sea sponge.)
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