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"Little Daddy" is the first segment of the fifth episode of the second season of the 2021 series of Rugrats. It premiered on Paramount+ on April 14, 2023 [1]. It premiered on Nicktoons on February 26, 2024.
Characters Present
Summary
Tommy and his friends help Chuckie get ready to be a daddy when Chuckie thinks there's a baby in his tummy. - Description from Paramount+
Plot
Betty, Didi and Chas are all at Betty's Beans with the kids and Chas brings a grilled cheese sandwich to his son, who eagerly tells his friends that grilled cheese sandwiches are his new favorite food. After giving the sandwich to Chuckie, Chas goes back up to the counter, where Betty gives him a coffee-based drink using macadamia-milk (since Chas is lactose intolerant and can't drink regular milk). Chas offers some of his drink to Didi, but she politely declines -- the smell of coffee is making her feel very nauseous, but she assures Betty that it's only because of her pregnancy. But Betty's fine with it, remembering how it had been the same way for Didi during her first pregnancy -- Betty then gives Didi her own grilled cheese sandwich, remembering how Didi had a strong craving for them when she was pregnant with Tommy. Didi greatly appreciates this and immediately starts chowing down on the sandwich, during which she feels her unborn child kicking -- Didi describes the feeling as if her stomach's rumbling. Chuckie, who happens to be listening in on the grownups' conversation, feels his own stomach rumbling and comments how it always does that when he eats grilled cheese sandwiches -- this causes his friends to comment that maybe his stomach is asking for more grilled cheese sandwiches. While listening to the adults talking, Chuckie hears his dad compliment Tommy's mom's hair, which Chas claims has never looked better. Stu soon comes by to take the kids back to his and Didi's house and claims that he's got a surprise waiting for Didi when she gets back home.
While the kids are in the play pen at Tommy's house, Chuckie admits to his friends that he thinks he's got a baby in his belly just like Tommy's mom does -- Chuckie gets really nervous at the prospect of being a father, but Tommy and the others all promise to help Chuckie and they all go to make a "practice baby" for him so he can practice being a dad for when his baby comes. Chuckie's friends make a practice-baby using a box of Reptar-cereal, which Chuckie ends up naming "Meatball." Chuckie and the others all start practicing stuff that parents do for babies, starting off by changing a diaper -- then they start feeding him with a bottle, which makes Chuckie start reminiscing about when his dad used to feed him from a bottle. After this, the kids go outside to the backyard where Chuckie takes Meatball down a slide -- however, Chuckie and Meatball end up in a mud puddle, but they use this as an opportunity to practice bath time, which ends up warping the cardboard. After changing Meatball's diaper for the second time, Chuckie and the others the take Meatball out on a walk in a stroller -- but while walking, Chuckie trips on his shoelaces and accidentally sends the stroller flying, ultimately destroying Meatball.
Meanwhile, Stu's surprise for Didi is a high-tech "super crib" with all sorts of amenities to help take care of the baby and put it to sleep at night. Stu (with help from Lou) adds all sorts of stuff to the crib and presents it to Didi when she gets home. Didi certainly seems impressed by it, but she points out one crucial thing that Stu had forgotten about: with all the amenities he added to the crib, there's no room for the baby. Knowing that her husband will eventually work it out, Didi leaves to go check on the kids -- after she leaves, Stu feels terrible about forgetting the most important part of what he was building and feels like a horrible father, but Lou makes him feel better about what happened and also assures his youngest son that he'll always be there to help him when he needs it.
While outside, Chuckie feels terrible that he was ultimately unable to protect his "son," but the others assure Chuckie that, whether or not he's truly ready to be a parent, he still did his best to take care of Meatball, which is ultimately what being a good parent is about. This makes Chuckie feel better, claiming that he can figure out being a parent when his baby comes -- and when his stomach starts rumbling again, Chuckie rushes off to the bathroom, running past his dad and Susie's mom. Upon seeing Chuckie rushing off to the bathroom (and possibly hearing his stomach rumbling), Lucy asks Chas if Chuckie's been eating any new foods lately. As soon as Chas reveals that he's been making a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches for his son, Lucy figures that Chuckie must be lactose intolerant like Chas is (which also means that Chuckie was just constipated instead of pregnant) -- Lucy advises Chas to be careful about any new foods that he introduces to Chuckie, particularly if dairy is one of the primary ingredients. Chas doesn't seem too bummed about this, but he does make one last grilled cheese sandwich for Didi (who still has a strong craving for the stuff).
When Chuckie comes back downstairs after using the bathroom, he reveals to his friends that he now knows he was never going to have a baby -- while he's a little bummed, he's at least happy that his stomach isn't hurting anymore. After he and his friends talk it over, Chuckie decides to wait until he's a little older to decide on becoming a parent.
Trivia
- This is the first of five episodes where Didi is shown to be visibly pregnant after revealing her second pregnancy at the end of the previous episode, as she's now sporting a much more visible baby bump.
- Didi also wears a different set of clothes for this episode (and the next four episodes) instead of her usual full-length long-sleeved red dress.
- It's revealed that during both of her pregnancies, the smell of coffee made Didi feel nauseous, and she had strong cravings for grilled cheese sandwiches.
- This episode reveals that Chuckie and his father, Chas, are both lactose intolerant.