What is the beech lanyard

The beech lanyard symbolizes Malcolm's enduring innocence at the start of the novel. When Malcolm first meets Lyra he is completely smitten by her and comes to love the baby very deeply. However, Malcolm's good intentions are sometimes misplaced- he offers up a beech lanyard that he carved himself to the six month old Lyra as a toy, not realizing that she could choke on it. Here the lanyard represents how innocent and unknowing Malcolm is, despite the many books he reads with Hannah.