Her Latest Flame

NJ has been swooning over a new boy lately. Well, he's not new -- my parents introduced them way back last summer. But it was only about a week ago that NJ looked over at him and said, "That's the man for me."

This little guy gets a thumbs-up from me.

Yes, NJ has a sudden, overwhelming case of Elmo Fever. She is head over heels for the red guy and calls out "Ah-mo Ah-mo Ah-mo" every time her eyes meet those goggly things on his head. She marches around hugging him tight, or maybe with him tucked under her arm. His Tickle-Me feature is a little tough for her -- you have to squeeze his belly surprisingly hard to get the little bastard to chortle, and she hasn't figured that out yet -- so The Wife and I help out sometimes.

NJ, give your little buddy a kiss! Aw, how cute ... oh, uh ... wait ... hey, that's enough. Really. Stop it.

There's even some Classic Toddler exaggerated wailing and flailing-fingers reaching if she sees Elmo and isn't in a position to immediately grab him. And it somehow manages to be both cute and irritating at the same time.

No photos, please. We're just "good friends."

Enjoy the ride while you're on it, Elmo. Soon she'll move on to someone else. There's an alligator, a Texas Longhorn, a meerkat, a six-foot-long caterpillar, three or four teddy bears ... well, you get the idea. They're all just hanging around her room, the basement and the rest of the place, just waiting to be discovered and hugged until their seams pop. Don't forget: Today's news is tomorrow's fish-and-chip paper.