A Flurry of the Furry - Rembrandt, Tutu, Nutmeg, and Bennett
- wingedmermaid
- Feb 7, 2015
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 30, 2021
Today, Arista’s going to help me show off the small and furry members of my collection – the pets! My mini herd is comprised of Rembrandt the border collie, Tutu the cat, Nutmeg the rabbit and Bennett the terrier.
Let’s start with Rembrandt. I absolutely love him! He’s large and fluffy, with a sturdy stuffed body. He has a non-removable leash and does not have a poseable inner “skeleton” the newer pets have. I didn’t start collecting American Girl until after Saige’s year, so I missed out on Rembrandt the first time around. Luckily, he was re-released as “Border Collie” during the end of the year sales and my mom was able to snag one for me. He was one of my birthday presents this year.
I’m not sure what he’s like in Saige’s books, but he comes across as a gentle giant to me. In my photos, you’re likely to see him wanting to investigate what everyone else is doing, but in a respectful way. He’s a good example to the rest of the herd and helps to keep them in line.
…And then there’s his complete opposite, Tutu the cat. Tutu comes from Isabelle’s collection. In the books, she’s mischievous but sweet, which sounds a lot like a real cat I know…
My mom-in-law rescued four Maine Coon cats back in 2010 and I love them to pieces. They’re all brothers, but they each have very distinct personalities. My Tutu gets her personality from Drake, the pretty boy of the bunch (named after Nathan Drake, fellow pretty boy from the Uncharted video game series).
Drake knows he’s cute, and he knows that if he acts really, really cute, he might just get away with something – or you might forget about whatever naughty thing he just did. He is generally a good cat, but he does have his moments, and in those moments, he uses his adorableness to help smooth things over.
My Tutu is much the same. She always wants to be part of the action and is very demanding of attention. She also might use you as a means of boosting herself up for a better view of whatever is going on. But you can’t help but love her and her mischievous antics. She’s often a bounding ball of energy, but she does like to curl up with people and be calm, too.
Nutmeg can also be deceptively energetic. My parents got me Nutmeg for Christmas last year. She looks a lot like the rabbit I had when I was younger, a Norwegian Dwarf named Amber. I named her for her color, but she lived up to the “energy” meaning of her name, too (and lived to be 11 years old! Not bad!). My Nutmeg’s personality comes from her. Like my rabbit, Nutmeg loves carrots, but prefers the tops. She likes running around the room in circles, then settles herself back into her basket.
And last but not least, Bennett the terrier! Bennett was the first pet from American Girl I ever wanted. As a kid, I thought he was the cutest out of all the original pets. He comes from Molly’s collection and has a sort of twin, Yank, who was Emily’s dog. He’s a lot smaller than the other pets, which makes me wonder if American Girl decided to increase the scale of all pets after he was retired.
I haven’t read Molly’s books yet, but I like to think of my Bennett as a lovable little goofball. He tries to be like Rembrandt, but most of the time, he’s got too much energy to stay still for long. He loves being around people – whether it’s accompanying someone on a walk or sitting with them and watching TV. I suppose he’s a combination of my sister’s rabbit, Snowball, and my mom-in-law’s cat, Jake.
I think my herd’s pretty complete for now. I’ve got all the bases covered – large dog, small dog, cat and rabbit. I actually think I like these non-poseable pets better than the new ones. They still have a lot of personality, even if they can’t move their legs independently or “hold” anything in their mouths. I might eventually sew some accessories for them, but for now, I think they’re good chilling on the rug with Arista.
