"Bur" --a fitting nickname.

Wilbur has developed quite the fan in Josephine. Throughout the course of the day, I hear a lot about "Bur" with her pointing upstairs where he stays on the landing. As far as she knows, he "naps" a LOT-- but how else do you explain nocturnal to a 16 month old?I tried to get a few pictures of them together, but it's tough with having to run intervention. I'm worried if she gets too adamant of a feel, she'll decide she hates him (he automatically thrusts his spikes in the direction of an unexpected touch). So far, she's had enough touching to pretty well keep her distance, while still being fascinated and enjoying his huffing and puffing. But the accidental stumble could really be disastrous!Wilbur doesn't have a ton of fun with it, but it's cute to see Josephine get all excited and rambunctious about him, especially when he trots past her feet or off into a corner that's taped off and out of bounds for her (I tell her Wilbur doesn't have to "watch the line" because he's older than her).

Really, I know it's sad, Wilbur being all huddled in the corner while Josephine gazes out the window and carries on playing...

It's better when we're all outside, where Josephine takes the occasional break to eat cherry tomatoes off the plants, gather bird feathers, throw chunks of dirt, trip over roots, and knock on the backdoor in hopes that someone will let her back inside. Wilbur gets in some good bug-eating exploration then.

But he told me to add one more huddled picture for good measure-- he wants to make sure everyone feels sorry for him.

And my goodness, how does that NOT make your heart melt?