"Your French aren't you?"

That's what Clare says to her newest toy. Sophie la girafe. Say it with a french accent, you know you want to. Yes, Sophie the Giraffe. U etait une fois (Once upon a time)...I'm just copying crap right off the box. Sophie is an approx. 6 inch rubber giraffe that is apparently the **it with the Teethers (which are also known as the cool kids). She is discussed as if she is laced with pain killers and provides instant relief to your little one. How the hospital can you let you take a baby home without quizzing you on the merits of Sophie is beyond me. Car seat? Check. Knowledge of the great and powerful Sophie? Check. Here's your kid.
Seriously, though, Sophie is an expensive giraffe. She is $17. I think that seems slightly extreme for a toy that your child eats. I'm not really following, but how can you admit that to the Parenting Gods (also known as other Moms). So, I finally cave (because Clare has been begging for one for months now:) and purchase Sophie. She arrives from the Vulli, a French company that debuted Sophie many years ago (rumor is the French have loved her for decades and only silly Americans haven't heard of Sophie). I mean, everyone loves the French, right?
Yesterday, a box on the doorstep proclaimed Sophie had arrived. So I whip off the package (all in french, of course) and give Sophie a quick scrub, before my child can be truly happy in life with this amazing teether.
Ready for this? Wait for it....IT HAS A SQUEAKER. As is, I just spent $17 on a chew toy for my dogs. Abby went out of her mind when she heard it. She and Serena went crazy. So, I throw the dogs outside and let Clare have a chance with it. She loves it. She talked to Sophie, ate Sophie ears (or whatever those bumps are on a giraffe's head, which I fully realize aren't ears, but what are they?) and squeaked Sophie. Then I let the dogs back in. Abby was crazy. Crying on the floor where I made her lay down, watching this little angry person who has replaced her eat a squeaker toy. When I tucked up Sophie (after Clare teased Abby by throwing it on the floor, right at Abby, several times) on the counter, Abby sniffed and cried and tried to find her. So Sophie is as good as done. I will be picking Sophie up off the ground, in little pieces one morning in the near future. Her days in the Miller household are truly numbered. It's sad, because Clare likes Sophie. I took pictures with Clare and Sophie so she can remember her. I would like to know why no one mentioned Sophie's Squeaker. I think many parents go throw Sophies like goldfish. I'm just sad for her fate. And the $17 I wasted on a dog toy.