The first year we did Easter at our house, Rob was 2 years old and very into rabbits. VERY into rabbits. Soooooooooo into rabbits. He hadn’t been very into stuffed animals yet (he was a blankie type), but we were pretty sure he’d flip over a stuffed rabbit. So we bought him one, and it was the love of his life. And I SO WISH I could still find those same rabbits, because we bought him three more of them over the years (one brown, one brown-and-cream, one black) and they are just the BEST rabbits: just the right amount of beans for weight, just the right amount of flop for putting over your shoulder like burping a baby, just the right amount of realistic for a child who was a little strict about realism.

Wait. Wait wait wait. Hold the phone. I think I know one more place to check for them. …YES. YES!!! Toys R Us online still has them!! I can’t believe it! Do you think they’d be the same as before? I haven’t bought one for probably 8 or 9 years! But they LOOK similar! (It is a little hard to compare, now that ours have been loved grubby and thin.)

This is the white one we bought him for that first Easter, and this is the brown-and-cream one we bought him, probably for Christmas or his next birthday, after the first one was such a hit. (Both photos from ToysRUs.com. They don’t seem to have the black or brown anymore.) I’m not POSITIVE they’re the same, not without picking them up and evaluating them for heft and flop, but they look like they’d be good bunnies either way. And they’re buy-1-get-1-50%-off, so that’s $16.50 for two of them.

Anyway. At our house we are now at the point where we have to consider a new stuffed animal almost as seriously as we’d consider a new child: Can our household support yet another stuffed animal? Do we have a place for it, even theoretically? But if you are not at that point, the classic stuffed bunny does make such a nice Easter basket filler—especially if you’re looking for fewer candy options.

Jellycat Medium Bunny (photo from Amazon.com). Our first experience with Jellycat was when my brother and sister-in-law gave Jellycat loveys to the baby/toddler twins. Edward got a goat, and Elizabeth got a mouse. Both were such great loveys, I wanted one for myself. The bunny is perhaps not as whimsical as the goat, but it looks like a great bunny. It comes in other colors, too, but the white is my favorite.

Cordy Roy Bunny (photo from Amazon.com). Jellycat also has a “Cordy Roy” line I like. This bunny comes in this 10-inch size and also in a 15-inch size.

Ty Nibbly (photo from Amazon.com). Man, that is CUTE. And maybe a more sensible Easter-basket size.

Wild Republic Cuddlekin Snowshoe Hare (photo from Amazon.com). The picture doesn’t grab me, but we have a Wild Republic Cuddlekin triceratops that is one of the best stuffed animals I’ve ever bought. I will seriously sit in a chair, reading a book and SNUGGLING THE TRICERATOPS. So I’d take a risk on the rabbit for sure.

Ganz Rabbit in a Carrot (photo from Amazon.com). This is the sort of thing I’d put in the Easter basket but then pack away with the Easter things and bring it out each year. It reminds me of the “knitted chick in a knitted egg” my mom made for our baskets when my brother and I were little.

Russ Berrie Yomiko Rabbit (photo from Amazon.com). Henry has the Russ Yomiko white cat, and it is a very nice cat. On the floppier side of stuffed animal types.

Russ Berrie Yomiko Lop Ear (photo from Amazon.com). Or here’s a Russ one that looks like it might be on the less-floppy end of the spectrum.

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