Crazy About Dinosaurs!

Boys love dinosaurs, and my Little Guy is no exception.

He loves books about dinosaurs. He loves for us to draw him dinosaurs. He likes to pretend he IS a dinosaur – “ROOOOAR!” He likes dinosaurs on TV (“Dinosaur Train” is a fairly silly show, but is a new favorite).

The one thing he didn’t have was a cuddly dinosaur, one he could take with him to bed and snuggle with while he sleeps. So, I set out to make one for him. At first, I was just going to cobble together my own pattern. I have done that before with some success and probably would have this time, except that I stumbled upon bitofwhimsydolls.com. They sell lots of dolls and stuffed animals. Most are available as a pattern or as a finished product. I ordered the pattern (for Tommy T-Rex), and couldn’t be happier.

I first made one out of green corduroy. It didn’t turn out exactly as I’d hoped, but I’m going to blame the fabric. The corduroy just didn’t have the give that cotton does. The end result was still super cute, but I wanted to make another. So, for my second attempt, I used some pink printed cotton and made a cute girly dino for a friend’s child. I had assumed my dino-making days were over (for now at least) but then I found the cutest dinosaur printed fabric at JoAnn’s (their brand), and made one more.

Then I made a mistake – a fairly big one. I had all three of these stuffed little fellows out on the table and was in the process of putting them in clear plastic bags (for storage and/or eventual shipping) when Little Guy walked into the room. Silly me - I had thought he was occupied with Hubby elsewhere. My mistake. As soon as he saw them, he squealed “MY Dinosaurs!” and hugged them all to his chest in glee. I was able to pry the pink one away (she had an alternate destination after all), but ended up letting him keep the other two. He plays with them a lot more than his other stuffed animals, and they go to his crib with him every night. I asked him what their names were, and he answered “Dinosaur Train”. Clearly he doesn’t really understand the art of naming stuffed animals yet, but for now we have Dinosaur Train 1 and Dinosaur Train 2 (see images below)….

I knew for sure, that these little guys were a hit when I came into the family room one night and there sat Little Guy in front of a towering stack of blocks. One of his dino buddies was sitting next to him. Little Guy turned to the dino, shook his finger toward him and said, “Don’t knock down tower!”. Then he proceeded to take the dinosaur and knock the tower down. There was much roaring and giggling. When the tower was no more, Little Guy gave his dinosaur a time-out. How cute is that?

Regarding the pattern, I want to tell you that it was maybe the easiest pattern I’ve ever used, and I felt it was affordable, and ordering it was a breeze. The pattern was clearly written and illustrated with great photo examples. Copyright terms were clearly explained, and the whole thing was very user-friendly. I will certainly use this pattern again in the future. I strongly recommend that you visit bitofwhimsydolls.com and check out the awesome selection of finished items and patterns. I say this only as a very satisfied customer. I am not being compensated for this blog post about bitofwhimsy.