Joel Keller never thought he'd be a parent; he was even scared to hold someone else's baby. But time, marriage and the adoption process left him more than ready to bring his daughter Evyn into his life in 2015. He wrote about the experience for the New York Times' Motherlode blog. His other writing, about entertainment, food, tech and parenting, has appeared in the Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company, Co.Create and elsewhere.
What was your favorite childhood toy?
I had a Rowlf the Dog puppet that I played with all the time. I loved The Muppet Show and loved that I had a Muppet of my very own at home. I even stuffed him full of rags to make him look as big as he did on TV. I probably annoyed my parents and brother with how much I talked through Rowlf, but he was a pretty fun, longtime companion.