I'm embarrassed. and I might be a loser.

But I'm a parent now, so not really. Well, kind of.

Okay, we've been over the fact that Ben loves Elmo. He really does. So imagine my secret delight when I passed a kiosk in the mall today that sells personalized Elmo cd's.

A kiosk. At the mall. I've never bought anything from a kiosk in the mall. I usually pick up the pace when I am walking by the kiosks, actually, because they're usually manned by strange men who want to know what hair products I use.

So I actually stopped at the kiosk. Embarrassing fact number 1. Number 2 happened when I asked the woman how much the cd's were. She suggested I listen to one of the tracks first (because the price is embarrassing fact number 3). So she inputs "benjamin" into the computer and starts playing a song personalized just for Ben.

When Ben heard Elmo say his name during "Elmo's World," his eyes lit up and he looked at me and he smiled. And my eyes teared up. Embarrassing fact number 4 is that I am a total nerd and apparently also a pushover. Because I bought the cd.

This is what it looks like, only don't call him Olivia, because that will just confuse him. Ben's copy has 'Benjamin' on it.