I never did like dolls growing up, or Barbies either.  I TRIED to like them; I just could never get into them.  My little one likes dolls but loves stuffed toy animals, just as I did.  She also likes cars.  Ironically, my when my husband was young he played with his cousin’s doll house because he liked the miniature models.  He will still stop and examine any model he sees:  whether it’s a building going up, a battlefield of some sort, or a replica of anything historical.  Anyway, our little one asked for a doll for Christmas — that pooped.  Her daddy and I thought that was too disgusting.  And then I found this sweet, precious little thing.  It was the same brand our baby doll wanted only all this one could do was suck her thumb.  My heart constricted when I saw her.  Something about the mostly no hair and enormous eyes reminded me instantly of when my baby was a baby.  I cradled her in my arms through the box and even found a kitten for her on the way out.  When my husband saw her he melted immediately.  “It looks just like her when she was a tiny little baby!” he exclaimed and actually took the doll from me.  We were both lost in our own thoughts … five years whirling before our eyes.  “It’s kind of heartbreaking, isn’t it?” I asked and he just nodded.  When our little one got her on Christmas day she loved her and her doll’s kitten.  She named her Rose and said she was going to have a little girl just like her with the same name when she grew up.  Yet another Marian connection my child has unwittingly made.  I have noticed as other toys litter the house my husband and I have kept an eye on her.  She is never discarded, upside down, or on the floor.  It’s so silly for two grown adults to love a doll.  And yet, we do.  I keep thinking of one of my favorite Bette Midler songs:

         “Baby Mine”

Baby mine, don’t you cry.
Baby mine, dry your eyes.
Rest your head close to my heart,
Never to part, baby of mine.

Little one, when you play,
Pay no heed what they say.
Let your eyes sparkle and shine,
Never a tear, baby of mine.

If they knew all about you,
They’d end up loving you too.
All those same people who scold you,
What they’d give just for the right to hold you.

From your head down to your toes,
You’re not much, goodness knows.
But, you’re so precious to me,
Sweet as can be, baby of mine.