The Three Harolds

One of the first gifts Jordan ever gave me was a large stuffed bear with cream colored fur, brown eyes, and a blue plaid ribbon.  We were in college and, for whatever reason, I named the bear Harold.

Harold has followed the two of us through all of our moves after college.  He hung out in Providence, lounged on my futon and then our first guest bed in Cambridge, and has been a fixture in our guest rooms in Arlington.  Harold also bears an uncanny resemblance to our dog Cory, especially when Cory was a puppy. 

In preparation for Pumpkin's arrival, we recently turned the guest room in our house into Leah's big girl room.  That's Harold on the nightstand.

When Leah moved into her new room, Harold was still in there.  I hadn't intended to give Harold to Leah, but she had decided that he was hers.  She started sleeping with Harold every night (along with the rest of her bedtime ensemble, but that's another post).

Being an excellent husband, Jordan started scouring the internet for a new Harold.  Harold was originally purchased at FAO Schwarz, so he measured Harold and started trolling Ebay.

When the first intended replacement arrived, the ribbon was the same.  But he was the wrong color.  He was too fat.  His legs were too short.  He just wasn't Harold.  Leah didn't take to him, although she did note that there were now two Harolds. 

So, back to Ebay Jordan went.  He found an exact copy of Harold, but with a pink ribbon.  Pink being Leah's favorite color, I had a feeling that the substitution would be successful.  The third Harold arrived today and Leah has given me back my Harold (right in the photo below).  Leah now has Girl Harold or Pink Harold (left).  Pumpkin will be getting Brown Harold (center) upon her arrival in October.