I think this first example is spot on. Though a sibling comment's Wikipedia link doesn't mention it, there is a diminutive or hypocorism use that I feel is best translated into English with the -y or -ie suffix.

狗狗 doggy 猫猫 kitty 鸟鸟 birdie 宝宝 baby

And it kind of works for verbs too: 看看 [take a] looky