Meet Andy Floppinberg
July 9th, 2010
My mom made Hazel this family of floppy people (named by Mikey, of course) for Christmas. They went mostly unnoticed for a few months, but several weeks ago – after Alice came to live with us, Hazel walked into the room with the “mom” of the four and held her up for me to see.
“And-ee.”
We have suspected that doll-Andy is named after Uncle Andy, which was verified a couple of days ago when Hazel quietly stared at a photo of her favorite bearded uncle for a few moments, then pointed at the doll and said, matter of factly, “And-ee.”
Andy has been going on every Hazel-adventure lately, sharing about 75% of Hazel’s solo reading times, getting introduced to all of Hazel’s (real life) friends (Luca calls her “Annie”.) She gets carried around by the back of the neck so she can always see everything. She gets fed, she gets loved, she gets lots of hugs and kisses and reassurances of “okay Andy, okay” after falling on the floor or getting run over with the wagon. Mikey & I are expected to give her lots of hugs and kisses if she is presented to us for lovin’.
Andy has a family but they are less important. Seamus, the man of the house (father? son? brother? drifter? we aren’t sure), is largely ignored most of the time. Baby Hazel gets lots of very gentle care and spends most of her time sleeping in bed. The older sibling has not yet been named – we just call her “the purple kid” or “PK”. Sometimes the Floppinbergs travel as a family or get toted around in a big tangle of floppy limbs, but usually it’s just Hazel and Andy.
The last time we were at my parents’ farm Andy had a bit of a tussle in the horse pasture and came up completely red-clay-mud-faced and featureless. Hazel was horrified and turned a cold shoulder to her best friend until she’d had a bath. Usually Andy can do no wrong, though.
Andy is getting a little dingy. And pilly. And her skirt is starting to come undone. I think I need to invest in some good fabric pens so she can have a bit of a face lift, I need to repair the wardrobe malfunction, and I feel like some kind of doll botox might be in order because she is losing her fiberfill here and there, one fiber at a time.
July 9th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
FLOPPINBERG! amazing.
July 9th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
So sweet, you just never know what they’ll latch onto as a favorite. My son carried a lemon around for a week…and yes, we do give him toys. He is fickle with his toys, the lemon got dropped and forgotten in a toybox. I hope the doll love lasts!
July 9th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
I think the picture of Hazel kissing “Andy” is my new favorite. What a sweet little girl we’ve got. :) Love, M.O.M./Grandma
P.S. Hazel is starting to remind me of Scout Finch…
July 10th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
I love her doll! Hazel looks just so sweet with her little Andy:)
July 13th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Hazel looks like a giant in these photos. Especially the one with her head is cut off. Nice play with perspective. I can totally see Scout Finch!
July 30th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
[...] took the lint shaver to Andy today. She’s as smooth as new. But still… pretty dirty. I have vowed to hold off on a [...]