Pete Bear

This is Pete Bear - aka Baby Pete.
This is Abi's favourite toy.  And I have no idea why.  I bought "Pete" (then Ian...) when I was a teen, at a garage sale, for 25c.
I thought he was cute and classic looking.
I made him this bonnet. It was one of my first crochet projects. I made it up as I went.

It's shaped perfectly to fit Pete.
Pete is old. He was old when I got him. He's older yet.
Now, when Abi was born I made her this sweet little bear with dreams that it would be her favourite teddy.

This is Miss Kaylee Koigu. (Kaylee from Firefly; Koigu from the expensive yarn used.) It was also one of my early knitting projects - when I first learned about LYSs.
Later I knit this doll. Her name is now Sophie (after a friend made at the airport).

For a while this was her favourite. But Sophie does need her arms fixed. And somehow Pete interceded.

Why the name "Pete"? Good question.
The first Pete toy was this Groovy Girl.  It was the first of her toys to receive a name.  Most of her toys don't have one. Dolls are "girls" - and NOT "baby".  If someone asks about her "baby" she'll look at them like they must be crazy because clearly the doll isn't a baby. She'll then correct them that it's a girl. And doesn't have a name.

One day as we were driving to daycare, with this doll which was a temporary favourite, I asked (cheekily...) if the doll had a name yet.  Much to my amazement, she came back with a name. Pete.  I laughed.  She didn't understand why I thought it funny.  I figured she'd forget. But no, the name stuck. Pete was the name of her daycare provider's husband.  I knew they would find it hilarious.

Her daycare provider had also given her this baby doll, which was another temporary favourite.

It doesn't have a name.
But none of these toys were ever long-term. She was always fickle with her favourites. Until Pete Bear.
I laughed when she named the bear Pete. Once again, she was not impressed that I should find his name funny.  It's his name after all!  Of course, what I found funny was that she would name a second toy Pete.  She's tried naming even more toys Pete, but I've explained how confusing that will become.

That's the story of Pete Bear.