Elmo

Tickle Me Elmo scared the noodles out of my daughter. It was given to her as a gift and we were all sure it would crack her up. And then the moment came. Elmo was placed in front of her and turned on.
It even scared me. As he laughs, he falls over violently and then back, in Frankenstein-like, jerky motions, kicking his legs and laughing in a voice that sounds like it's coming from a drive-thru speaker.
My daughter opened her eyes wide and reared back, making a sound that was not quite a cry. It was more like a hee-haw. Seriously. Then she started crying and clawing at the air behind but could not seem to take her terror stricken eyes off of Mr. Elmo.
We tried again.
This time, Elmo fell over onto her legs. He falls hard! And this completely un-did her.
Every time he moves, you can hear gears grinding and his feet are really heavy so they make a very loud knocking sound when they are kicked against the floor. He's not very lovable.
Poor thing.
We haven't turned it on in weeks. Sometimes she crawls over to him and touches an eyeball tentatively. When she sees he's not going to move, she knocks him over and crawls away.
As if she's saying, "Ha! That'll show 'em!"