Plushie> yeah, I think taking them off would work as well. As for "lots of little things" - those changes should be clearly visible anyway. Best to keep badge size in mind when designing changes. A change should be visible right away on those small size babies:

or best when they're still quite visible even on those:

Comparing previews of your knuffel in such sizes is a good way to see and judge your changes.
Either way, you knuffel is amazing and I really hope you'll finish him c:
Making simple knuffel isn't impossible, but harder to design for sure and needs more planning.