Hi all, Panda here, and I’m pleased to say Mom decided to do another post about me!

This is me in my younger days. When this photo was taken, I was almost brand new. I had just met my best friend Foster, and little did I know that I was on my way to becoming…real!I’m sure you are familiar with “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Margery Williams. Well, after reading this post, you may  just want to consider me “The Velveteen Panda”.So let’s start at the beginning. Apparently part of becoming “real” is getting dragged around by someone bigger than you.I definitely have that one down to a science!I was surprised to find out real pandas sometimes get put in “time out” too.Don’t know what I did wrong, but Mom claims she woke up one morning and found me like this.When I saw this picture I was relieved to know……I’m not the only panda who routinely falls off of stuff.I was pushed!Nor am I the only panda who enjoys going for a refreshing swim now and then.Although I have to say my lake is much smaller than the ones they have in the wild!Ahh! A cool drink of delicious water!I can’t quite reach…Granted, we don’t have actual snow here in Fresno……but I can always pretend!One thing we can do in our part of the world is lie around in the sun. At this point let me say that Mom was having a hard time finding the panda pictures she wanted on Pixabay.com, so she was forced to do a few Google searches. Imagine her surprise when she Googled “panda in sun” and saw this very picture of me from our post, “A Place in the Sun”!

Good to know we’re starting to get an online presence!Ahh! This is the life!They say if cats and dogs roll over on their backs it means they trust you. For me it’s just a matter of where Foster leaves me!Apparently real pandas like to play a lot.I’m sure I’m not an exception!In the wild, pandas enjoy spending time in their dens.Our den is one of our favorite places!Being a panda is not without its difficulties. Sometimes we just feel like hiding from the world.Unfortunately, in my case, you can hide, but you can’t run.They say pandas can do all kinds of gymnastic moves, including somersaults.Hey! I can do that!Mom found this photo when she Googled “panda and tiger”. Apparently it’s from a “Pei Wei’s” orange chicken ad, and the caption was “Move over, panda!”I’ve heard that before!

So you see being a real panda takes work, and it can get you pretty tired.

Fortunately, like cats, we pandas can pretty much sleep anywhere.“That’s affirm!”
But the best place to sleep is always……with your very best friend!