My girl's pal is a purple dinosaur.

Introducing the good pal of my girl.

Barney

And his good pals, which have become my girl's pals too.

(L to R) Baby Bop, Barney, BJ

Han's first soft toy pal was Hello Kitty when her two grandmas bought the same Hello Kitty lanterns for her last year during Mooncake Festival. Upon seeing how much she liked the cat, there came along some items all embossing the image of this timeless cat from Japan. But her friendship with the feline didn't last too long. That was when the "rival-in-friendship (not love)" appeared. THE purple dinosaur.

I was just thinking why Han loves Barney so much. She has her Barney soft toy that she sleeps with, brings along with and plays with. She counts Barney's friends - BJ and Baby Bop as her good pals as well. Recently she has even incorporated their names into her sentences. Some examples as follow:

1) " That one's Barney's one, cannot take." (pointing to something she is not supposed to touch)

2) "Barney will scold." (referring to an action she is not supposed to do.)

3) "Sing happy birthday to Barney/ BJ/ Baby Bop." (playing with them.)

4) "Barney and Baby Bop must share." ("feeding" them using a toy bottle)

I am careful not too allow her to be obsessed with these characters. So I try to refrain myself from going beyond just letting her have the soft toys. No utensils, clothes etc with Barney. But she just needs the sight of them to go into a cheerful frenzy, "Baaaaarrrnneeeyy!! BBBBBJ! Baaaaaabbbbbyyy Bop!" It's cute. Very cute :)

Back to my analysis on why the purple dinosaur is so popular:

1. The colours. Purple, green, yellow, green. BRIGHT. Need I say more?

2. The music. Catchy, easy to listen, actions (very important to toddlers). Even I can sing many Barney songs now. They're quite nice. Some of them.

3. The ease of pronouncing their names. Barney, BJ, Baby Bop. Easy peasy for toddlers. Nice strategy.

Till her next group of pals join her club, it looks like the days of this purple dinosaur are still many to come!:)