The newest animal to be added to Avery's menagerie is Bambi, which of course is a fawn. This wasn't the most original of names, I'll admit, but it's a natural choice since Avery has seen the Disney movie and has never been able to forget that Bambi lost his mommy.

Early Sunday morning, Avery lost her Bambi in a tangle of covers, which resulted in a bloodcurdling scream, and a frantic search. Fortunately, the fawn was retrieved, and Avery went back to sleep.

That was great because Sunday could have gotten really long if she hadn't nodded off again. We decided to stay inside on Father's Day, having gone to the pool the evening before. Only one mistake was made in an otherwise perfect day, and we all paid for it dearly.

Avery's mom, Jennifer, didn't realize how our senses would be assaulted when she pulled down a stuffed bear from the top shelf of our toy closet. Jen had never seen the bear before and didn't know I'd hidden it in the closet weeks ago hoping Avery would forget about it.

The bear is outfitted in dazzling pearls and a feathery mint-green hat with a matching shirt. When you press her delicate paw she belts out a roaring rendition of "That's What Friends Are For." Dionne Warwick would be green with envy.

The bear has been hanging out at our house since February, when I had surgery on my face. My buddy Barb gave me the gift to remind me of our friendship and to encourage me to keep smiling. I had no idea that bear would give us so many belly laughs, but would also make us want to hurl the diva right into the lake.

Avery is obsessed with the singing bear. She was the last time she was here as well - to the point that her 5-year-old cousin Reed put his hands over his ears and begged her repeatedly to stop pressing its paw.

On Sunday, it was the same song and dance. We heard "keep smiling, keep shining, knowing you can always count on me, for sure, that's what friends are for," at least 367 times - so much so that I hate to type the words because they'll jump back into my head again.

The bear went to Wal-Mart, right into the cart with Avery. All the way through the store it sang up a storm. When we got to the checkout, Avery told the salesclerk, "See my bear," then pressed its paw and started singing because the clerk asked if she knew the words to the song too. That child has a set of pipes.

Spark escaped the concert Sunday morning because he played golf, but he got earfuls of "keep smiling" when he got home - finally begging his granddaughter to silence the bear through dinner. Avery did it for him, but you could tell it was a sacrifice, as much of a sacrifice as it was for me to send the bear home to spend a couple of days in St. Louis with Avery.

It's my bet that mommy will find a really deep, dark closet for the bear to take a nap in until it finds its way back to Washington.