I was told I had to blog about this...

by Jill and Baker at our super awesome girly night last night. Actually, I have to say that I'm a little surprised at myself for not blogging about this when it happened. It's not like me to let a good Little M. anecdote go un-blogged. After seeing the tears of laughter roll down Jill's face, I realized just how darn funny this little story is, so without further ado...

Let's go back in time to December of 2008. Mr. EM and I were at a loss as to what to put under the tree for Little M. He was thoroughly enthralled with every toy he already owned, which is a good thing, of course. However, he had a pretty good handle on how the whole Santa thing worked and would be disappointed if he had nothing but a book sitting next to Big M.'s booty. We batted around a few ideas and then I decided to ask Super Sitter what his favorite toys were at her house, maybe we could get some input from her.

Not so much...at her house, it seems he pretty much plays with the same stuff he plays with at home: a play kitchen, Hot Wheels cars, dress-up clothes and blocks. Then she said, "Well, I don't know if you want to get him this or not, but one of his favorite things to do here is play with the baby dolls. He gives them bottles, puts them down for naps, tells them how cute they are. He really enjoys them." I thought that was a good idea and asked Mr. EM how he felt about his son having a baby doll. He was totally on board with the idea (as a good daddy should be!), so off to Wal-Mart I went in search of a baby doll.

(On a side note...Mr. EM was really gunning for me to get him a black baby doll. Obama had just been elected, much to Macho Man's chagrin, and it was Mr. EM's hope that Little M. would take his black baby up to MIL's house on our next visit, prompting Macho Man to go into cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, there were no black babies in the variety of doll I chose, so Macho Man will have to make do with being disgusted about us allowing his step-grandson to play with "girl" toys, but leave his racial ignorance out of it.)

Anyway, Christmas morning arrives and, amongst other things, sitting in Little M.'s pile of loot is an adorable baby boy doll, complete with a pacifier and change of clothes. At first, he was more interested in his doctor kit and his Father Goose cd. He'd noticed the baby doll, but hadn't really given it much attention and I was a little disappointed, thinking he didn't like it. But then, after everything else had been properly admired, opened and played with, he unzipped the little carrying case the baby was in and took him out. He was quiet for a moment, adjusting the baby's bib and pulling the pacifier out of his mouth.

"Dad, look! Santa brought me a baby. Do you want to see him? He is very little and cute." Mr. EM said that, yes, he did want to see Little M.'s baby. Little M. gently carried the baby over to Mr. EM, truly with the look of a new, adoring parent on his sweet, little face. I watched him, feeling really good about our choice to give him this doll. He really, really liked it!

He passed the baby over to Mr. EM and said, "Isn't he cute, Dad? I will take good care of him. He wants to take a nap and maybe he is hungry." Mr. EM agreed that the baby was very cute and said, "What is his name, Little M.?"

It was obvious the thought of naming the baby hadn't occured to Little M. just yet. He took the baby back from Mr. EM and cradled it gently in his arms, staring at it's face and giving the choice of a name a lot of careful thought. "Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...", he hemmed and hawed over it for several seconds before finally coming up with something.

"His name is...DANGER HAWK."

No, I'm not kidding. No, he wasn't prompted by his older brother. He came up with Danger Hawk all on his own and we have absolutely no idea where it came from. Since then, he has changed the baby's name several times...Max, Alex and Rainy are often in the rotation, along with many others. The baby doll's name changes with Little M.'s moods and I have to say, the baby doll is a big hit, often played with and much-loved.

However, regardless of what name ends up sticking in the long run, regardless of whether the baby doll stays here for a long time or is no longer played with after another few months, to Mr. EM and me, he will always, ALWAYS be named Danger Hawk.

(And I think we bloggers should start a campaign of American Idol proportions to convice EBM to name her baby boy, due in August, Danger Hawk. How about it?)