So we folks at Wednesday Cute have been featuring a lot of “baby animals being cute” videos lately. But can you blame us?! They are so cute!!

This baby elephant just wants to snuggle. And who are we to deny him? Get over here, buddy, and let’s hug it out! (via)

He doesn’t know his own size—and that is CUTE. He’s like the world’s largest Snuggle Puppy! Have fun out there, little guy; maybe someday you’ll find a snuggle buddy your own size.

–Avery, who would cuddle with this elephant any day

This week in Wednesday Cute: slippery seal babies!!

Here is a seal pup trying to wriggle its chubby little body up onto a surfboard! It’s almost four minutes of baby animal goodness. (via)

A highlight begins at 0:37 (did someone grease the board?!), and it only gets better when the little guy gets its face all up in our business (1:28, 2:16, 3:24!!). We’d say we wish the poor pup’s buddies would be more helpful, but then we wouldn’t get to watch him slither and wiggle all over the place.

And hey, if you’re feeling down or frustrated, just take your inspiration from this resilient fellow: He didn’t give up in the face of adversity, even when it looked like the whole world (or at least the surfboard) was conspiring against him. Go get ‘em, champ!

–Avery, whose feelings about baby seals can be summed up as follows: <3

Guys! Guys! Hey, you guys! It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for some Wednesday Cute!!!

My Modern Met has assembled a collection of animals and their mini-mes! That’s right: There are animals that are adorable in their own right, accompanied by their adorable, smaller doppelgangers! Folks, we’ve got proof positive of Cute Overload’s Rule of Cuteness #7: A thing, accompanied by a smaller version of that thing, is always cute.

• And a bonus item: From the Huffington Post come these adorable kids’ letters to the Tooth Fairy, in which they express their hopes, their fears—and their desire for more cash. Dream big, kids!

—Avery, who thinks the ultimate pairing would be a tiny turtle with its even tinier turtle twin. 2 cute 2 handle!!!

Today we’re serving up some adorability that originates long ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

That’s right, it’s Wednesday Cute: Star Wars-style!! Let’s get right into it.

The newest book on everyone’s minds around here is Star Wars Origami, a book of 36 amazing paper-folding crafts from the Star Wars universe. Ever wanted to make an Origami Yoda? How about a Darth Paper? (Any Tom Angelberger fans out there?) Check out the book—and this video of author and creator/illustrator Chris Alexander discussing the projects!

• Speaking of cute videos, remember this?!?! This kid is using the Force for good.
  
• Also this! Star Wars according to a 3-year-old! She’s so wise!
• This is the squishy Millennium Falcon you’re looking for.

Yo dawg, we heard yo’ dog likes Yoda, so we put Yoda on yo’ dog…yo.

—Avery, who wants to buy that Yoda hat for everyone she knows, canine and otherwise

Olympics! Olympics Olympics Olympics!! Aaaaaahhhh London 2012!!!

If you’re anything like us, your every waking moment over the past week has been consumed by thoughts of the Olympics: the races! the medals! Her Majesty skydiving! But you might have missed this: an adorable short film by Amael Isnard and Leo Bridle in which the vermin—ahem, excuse me, urban animals of London carry their own tiny Olympic torch through the streets. It’ll make you see rats in a different light (i.e. a cute one). (Via The Mary Sue)
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/46296980[/vimeo]

• Excuse us, CNN, but why are you asking if the Olympic mascots are “cute or creepy”? Wenlock and Mandeville—yes, those are their names—were forged out of steel and rainbows. STEEL AND RAINBOWS, people! We all know the answer to their question is “absolutely adorable.” And if you don’t think a big-headed alien-type-thing can be cute, we implore you to watch E.T. immediately.
• Over at her blog, Katie Workman, author of The Mom 100 Cookbook, writes about making food for two young boys who aren’t always that easy to please (and what kids are?). But this week the tables turned, when her son Jack and his friend Aaron made breakfast for the whole family—specifically, popovers. This blog post has the double-whammy of cute kids and adorable little puffed breakfast pastries. Yum!

What with the rumor-mongering and mud-slinging that’s so prevalent in contemporary politics, we wouldn’t be surprised if all this election talk was getting you down. Luckily we have the solution: Kid President! This little POTUS knows what’s what, and he can also seriously cut a rug. Plus, he’s wise beyond his years: “If it doesn’t make the world better, don’t do it.” You’ve got our vote, Kid President!
[youtube]http://youtu.be/7bW7s98R088[/youtube]

•  On the one hand, this story about bears in Bearsville invading a home multiple times while the owners were out is scary. It’s sad that their kitchen was ransacked, although fortunately nobody was hurt. On the other hand, you adorable silly bears!! We know you probably got confused because you live in Bearsville, NY, but that’s not your house!! (Via Stephen Colbert)
• If we’re going to blog about cute things we might as well include this link to a piece on the origin of the word “cute.” It even has a totally cute graph.

We’re suckers for a cute animal video, and goats rank SUPER high on the hierarchy of animal adorability. Need proof? This tiny goat is doing parkour—off her friend’s back.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/5IuRzJRrRpQ[/youtube]

• Speaking of cute animal videos, enjoy these kittens drinking from tiny bottles. You win again, Cute Overload!!

—Avery, who’s off to practice some parkour

Wednesday’s great for many reasons, but our favorite is Wednesday Cute, your weekly dose of cute things from around the Web. This week: singing clouds, a hand-held pony, and a tooth-brushing PSA to end them all.

It may seem an unlikely source for cute things (after all, their motto isn’t “All the CUTE That’s Fit to Print.” Although it should be), but last week the New York Times brought us dock-diving dogs and I’m still not over it. This week’s Times photo is a bit older but just as charming: “Billed as the smallest pony in the world: Santab, which at the age of a year is only 25 inches high and weighs 60 pounds [!!!], on display as an attraction in a London store.” See this and more great photos of old at The Lively Morgue, an oft-updated blog of pictures from the Times archives.

•  We know the adage says you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but when this six-year-old guessed the plot of classic novels based solely on the jacket art, we considered erasing that old expression from our memories and encouraging children far and wide to judge away! A choice line, from her review of Jane Eyre: “This is about a girl that goes mining. I don’t know why, but she looks like she would go mining, mining for gold.” Don’t let Jane hear you say that, kid.
• If you didn’t think clouds could be cute, you haven’t seen Cloudy, an animated short about the lives of the world’s most adorable clouds.

Usually we’d just link to a video we like, but this is too good not to put right here on the page. The Oregon Dental Association made a PSA about brushing your teeth called Teach Me How to Brushy. That’s right: It’s based on “Teach Me How to Dougie,” and it features kids breaking it down in the name of oral hygiene. We know it’s aimed at children, but it’s even inspired us to floss (and brushy).

[youtube]http://youtu.be/5ugQLL65BKc[/youtube]

• We don’t mean to obsess, but have you seen the entries in the My Dog Needs Glasses contest?! They’re…wait for it…SO CUTE. And hey, if you upload a photo of YOUR dog wearing glasses by July 31 you’re entered to win a signed copy of Barney Saltzberg’s Arlo Needs Glasses, probably one of the cutest books of all time. Who doesn’t want that?
• The 2012 Olympics are exciting, impressive, inspiring—but are they cute? Not really. You know what are cute? THE GUINEA PIG GAMES.

This kitten—named Nugget, for cute’s sake—loves Bananagrams. There’s not much more to say. You win this round, Cute Overload.

—Avery, who as a kid had a toothbrush that sang “I’m your friend Brushy-Brushy, / I keep your teeth shiny and bright. / Please brush with me every day, / Morning, noon, and night!”

After a brief hiatus (I was in England! English accents: so cute), Wednesday Cute is back and cute as ever. This week we’re bringing you little kids at Comic Con, a giant yarn-bombed alligator, and a canine sport so cool (and cute) that you’ll put away your Frisbee in shame.

Let’s jump right in: Doggy dock diving is a sport and it’s the cutest thing ever. Basically, dogs leap from docks over the water and straight into your heart. This slideshow alone is reason enough to buy a subscription to the New York Times. (Photo by Megan Bearder)

• Did you ever give your little sister or brother a haircut with a pair of safety scissors? Your parents were mad, right? They wouldn’t have been mad if you’d been as cute as these girls. Here, NPR reporter Jeff Cohen talks to his two very young daughters about what could have possibly been going through their minds as the older snipped the younger’s long locks. The resulting interview is more adorable than you can even imagine.
• Watch this baby turtle eat a raspberry. You won’t be sorry.

The Avengers was a great movie, but it was lacking in the aww department. What’s that you say? Comic Con kiddies dressed as super heroes? WHOA, super adorable! Below, Mini-Hawkeye and the Tiny Flash—the latter a familiar friend from the DC Universe. (via The Mary Sue)

• We love unlikely friendships! So we went ape over this monkey who’s adopted a litter of puppies as her own.
• Have we mentioned that Arlo needs glasses? Enter a photo of your bespectacled dog in our contest for a chance to win a signed copy of the adorable book!

An already awesome alligator-shaped playground (!!) became all the more spectacular when yarn-bomber Olek and a team of “crocheteiros” covered the structure in colorful yarn. Going rainbow-colored and fuzzy would do a lot to improve alligators’ reputations as a species. (via Flavorwire)

• If someone were to bring to ME to the beach, I certainly wouldn’t drag my adorably big paws and floppy ears and tiny fluffy tail through the sand!

—Avery, who’s going to send her dog to dock diving camp

In this week’s Wednesday Cute: a rainbow pony made of paper, adorable kids reading in an adorable underground library, and the gift of literacy from a sweet dad to his high school grad. Happy Wednesday!

If you like books (duh!), you’ll love the Underground New York Public Library, a charming blog by a photographer who snaps pictures of people reading on the NYC subway. Below, two young bibliophiles devour Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney and Warriors by Erin Hunter while their parents look on. (Here’s another of my favorites. And look, someone reading Water for Elephants!)

• Speaking of parents and books, awesome dad Bryan Martin gave his daughter Brenna the sweetest high school graduation gift of all time: a copy of the fairly typical Oh, the Places You’ll Go!—inscribed with messages from every one of her teachers, principals, and sports coaches since kindergarten. Awww.

We love all things paper-crafty (exhibit A: Paper Made!), and these animals are no exception. Artist Diana Herrera has made a veritable menagerie of adorable paper craft creatures; you can see them on her Flickr site divided into birds and other animals. Here, a rainbow horse! (via The Mary Sue)

• These papertoy monster robots are kind of intimidating…and also CUTE.
• Ever wonder what life looks like from a dog’s point of view? Check out this video of pups at play, captured by a camera attached to a dog’s collar. They are clearly having so. Much. FUN.
• You’re more of a cat person, you say? Here’s a live stream of seven kittens in a box. You’re welcome.

In honor of the “My Dog Needs Glasses!” Pinterest contest, enjoy this collection of bespectacled dogs (and cats).

• AND AN ENORMOUS PINK KNITTED RABBIT. Ahem.

—Avery, who wants to open a papercraft zoo

It’s time for the first-ever installation of The Wednesday Cute, a semi-regular collection of things from around the Web that make us say “Aww!” This week, a Jedi baby, a dog who wears glasses, tiny webbed platypi feet—and more.

From Megan Nicolay, awesome craft blogger and author of Generation T : Baby Niko helped dad Luke celebrate his first-ever Papa’s Day in a shirt that pays homage to one of the most famous fathers of all time.

• Speaking of dads, sometimes they just want to be left alone.
• In the category of absolutely brilliant web collections, here is Gigglers.tv, a site that compiles videos of people laughing—purely for your enjoyment.  It’s an “international laughter reservoir,” and it’s awesome. (via Jspace)

These baby platypi prove that you don’t need whiskers and a fuzzy tail to reach extreme levels of cute. (via buzzfeed)

• Arlo needs glasses, and there’s a song about it. I can’t even deal.
• Mr. Rogers also has a song! And here I thought he couldn’t get any more adorable.

I know I’m late to the party, but has everyone checked out Aled Lewis‘ photo project Toy Stories? Because you really should.

• Little free libraries! They look like they could be run (or inhabited) by elves. Must be seen to be believed.

—Avery, your resident Cute Curator (that’s Curator of Cute Things, not Adorable Internet Peruser. Although yes, that too)