EVERYBODY!!!!!!!

It is no secret that Phoebe is obsessed with Sesame Street. Particularly with Ernie and Bert (and recently also Snuffleupagus). While I am sure PBS does really need us all to call in during the pledge drive, they must also do a pretty brisk business in Sesame Street merchandising. Prior to becoming a parent I never really noticed, but you can buy pretty much any consumer product with Elmo's face printed on it (case in point, we now own an Elmo toilet seat ... add THAT to the list of things I never thought I'd say). 

It didn't take long before (thanks to Grandma) Phoebe was the proud owner of a bean-bag Ernie and Bert, followed closely by (thanks to my Aunt Bonnie) Playskool plastic Ernie and Bert. Then, when we were in Michigan for my cousin's wedding my mom took Phoebe to the toy store (you know, just in case there was a toy that Phoebe didn't have and Grandma needed to rectify that situation) and they had a huge display full of big stuffed Sesame Street characters. Phoebe gasped and ran over yelling "they have BIG ERNIEBERT LOOKLOOKLOOKLOOK". Needless to say, Phoebe picked out an Ernie and a Bert (even Grandma couldn't be convinced that she needed TWO Ernies despite the little munchkin's best efforts) to take home. As we were checking out, Phoebe ran back over to the display, grabbed a Big Bird and nonchalantly threw it up on the counter saying "Me get this one Big Bird too". Of course, Grandma agreed that Big Bird was essential and Phoebe left the store with three new friends. 

Within about a week and a half of us being back home, Grandma had decided that clearly Abby Cadabby and Zoe needed to join the crew and they showed up on our doorstep. At Christmas, Uncle John gave Phoebe Grover and Snuffleupagus to round out her collection. Somehow I think we also ended up with Elmo. At first, Phoebe referred to Ernie, Bert and Big Bird as ErnieBert. As in, "Daddy get ErnieBert", "ErnieBert come downstairs Phoebe", "ErnieBert eat dinner", etc etc etc. Once Abby and Zoe joined the crew it got too time consuming to list each character's name, so Phoebe just started referring to the collective as Everybody. "Daddy you bring Everybody downstairs", "Mommy put Everybody Phoebe's bed", etc etc etc. Phoebe sleeps with Everybody every night (nobody can be missing or bedtime is delayed while a search party is mounted) and in the morning, Everybody needs to come downstairs with us for breakfast. Phoebe loves to read her Sesame Street books picking up each stuffed character to show them themselves on the page. It is pretty adorable. Probably the most adorable thing that Phoebe has done with Everybody is to share them with Grandpa:

Phoebe still talks about this. Every once in a while she'll say "I put everybody Grandpa last night" (she uses "last night" as a stand in for any time period "in the past"). Grandpa was a pretty good sport about the whole thing, especially considering he wasn't feeling very well at the time. Phoebe on the other hand got increasingly frustrated that the grandparents couldn't seem to keep the characters' names straight.

We just hope Phoebe realizes what a lucky little girl she is. Not only does she have a bunch of crazy relatives searching the midwest for Ernie and Bert paraphernalia (and motorcycle shirts, but that's a story for another post) but she is surrounded by family that genuinely want to encourage her crazy interests. I even know a couple of old people that are doing their best to learn the difference between Zoe, Rosita and Abby Cadabby.