Is this humane?

Meet Chewie..Chewie Chewbacca to be exact. Chewie has agreed to help us get Bates used to the idea of a baby. Chewie is a good sport about these things even though he's suffered all sorts of indignities throughout his life .... such as living for years in a cardboard box and having to socialize with all sorts of lowly stuffed animals over his lifetime. And he's never once complained!

Chewie was given to me sometime around the time my brother, Micah, was born (1978...I don't know if that was the reason or something else) and he's been around ever since. Chewie doesn't say much, except for when my mom's around to give him a voice. Literally.

Of course I know Chewie can't really talk. I've just always envisioned him being completely immobile, but able to think and ponder the situations around him. Similar to Edward Tulane (Dicamillo wrote Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tale Despereaux...I highly recommend Despereaux and am planning on reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane soon).

So we swaddled Chewie (practice for us, too!) and presented him to Bates. At first Bates was really curious, but now he's wondering why we carry around a stuffed monkey in a straight jacket. :)