Ugly Bunnies and Adorable Boys

today is the third birthday of my favorite human in the entire world- matthew william johnson!

matty and i last valentine's day. we had matching minnie and mickey stickers, and were so excited about them! my minnie one has become a permanent part of my wallet, so i can carry a matt memory with me wherever i go

i've been preparing for this momentous day for some time now, with the creation of something i like to call 'the ugly bunny'

the third birthday is what i feel is the first birthday where a child really has some sort of cognitive understanding of what a 'birthday' is, along with a real understanding of gifts, and a firm recognition of the people who give them. my Matty and i have always been great friends, but it's really only been within the past year where he recognizes his auntie, with a name, and a voice, and a different personality than his other friends. he knows were my house is, he knows what he can get away with with me that he can't with his mother, he knows that i'll always play along when he uses his monster voice or his robot voice, and that anytime he wants, we can play mustachio!s. 

the mustachio! game is the best game ever invented. we paint mustaches on our faces and going around saying moustachio! to everyone we meet.

you don't really have that understanding with about to turn two year olds.but with barely three year olds, that's a completely different story!

matty teling me what's what on a shopping outing we took with his parents my dear boy

so, i make things. it's what i do. this means, for matt's birthday, i wanted to make him something fun and age appropriate- which in my mind means movable, colorful, very durable. and soft, since i've noticed this is the age where we learn how to crash things into other things. but the things i make are not always boy-friendly. they're actually pretty girly and cute most of the time. hence the idea of an 'ugly' bunny. bunnies are fun. they're soft. they have lots of details, such as whiskers and ears and tails. it's super easy to make a cute one.so, make a cute one! it's fun! but sometimes, when you hand stitch things, it's easy to create textures that evoke feelings of wear and tear, old worn bits of love. you pre-make the repairs that go into a favorite childhood toy- and voila! an ugly bunny! throw on some mismatched eyes and you are good to go.

a sneak peak at those mismatched eyes

i'm not quite done yet. luckily, i still have two days before his birthday party to attach all of the body parts to each other.

i'll let you know how he likes it!