A Pet Baby Bitter Melon (Fu Gua)

My 2 year old has a pet baby bitter melon that he picked from his grandparents' garden. He insists on carrying it everywhere - to the market, to the bath, to sleep. Oh and freaks out when it's lost. If only it wasn't a perishable pet vegetable and a stuffed animal or other inanimate non-perishable object. Sigh. I dread the day that my father-in-law's garden stops yielding these bitter melons and frost takes over. I don't even want to think about it.