The Story of Brr Brr.

Some of you have seen photos over the years of Oliver clutching a Beanie Baby English bull dog. This is how that began.

One day, when Oliver was about a year old, he and Josh were walking out of our apartment building. They met neighbors who had an English bull dog puppy. Oliver, not yet afraid of animals, loved the puppy.

Later, Josh told me about this. Remembering a tub of Beanie Babies (too cute to throw away) I had, I said, "I think I may have that kind of dog. And I did ("Wrinkles"). I dug through the tub and found the puppy. I gave it to Oliver, and it was love at first sight. We're pretty sure he recognized the dog. He held his new puppy and even lay down with it, holding it up for a better look. This was his first interesting in an object attachment.

I started playing with Oliver and his puppy, making Blue's Clues sounds. Eventually, Oliver started imitating me when he wanted his puppy. The "brr brr" sound became the puppy's name.

Oliver was in love. When he went to sleep on his stomach, he would grab Brr Brr and pull him under his chest. Brr Brr was with us for car trips, doctor visits, and sick days. When Oliver lost Brr Brr in the night (often lying on him), we would hear, "Brr Brr?" on the monitor.

Though the intensity of the relationship has calmed down, Oliver still seems to love Brr Brr. And when he sees a photo of an English bull dog, he identifies it as Brr Brr.