Mr. Rexy the Vegetarian Dinosaur Dragon

This guy right here is Mr. Rexy. He might look a might bit scary with all of those giant sharp teeth and spikes, but he is a gentle fellow. He is a vegetarian, and he is half T-Rex, half Hookfang dragon. He has gotten a bad rap, you see, from looking so mean. Really, though, he is like a giant teddy bear.

Mr. Rexy had a problem today, however, because a bunch of Pterodactyls “took the rocks from the lake trying to hit him because they were scared of him. They didn’t know he was nice because they never talked to him to see if he was really scary or if he just looked scary.”

Even though this was a bad move on the Pterodactyls’ part, it worked to Mr. Rexy’s advantage. The wet rocks worked to stop the lava from the volcano was erupting, because sometimes “good things happen from bad things.” The volcano is now just “drooling” lava and can’t hurt Mr. Rexy or anyone else. Sometimes we save the day even the original intention wasn’t the right one.

What we do know is that Mr. Rexy needs friends. And maybe a hug. We all need hugs sometimes, just be careful because this vegetarian half T-Rex half Hookfang doesn’t always watch where his spikes go. Hug at your own risk.

 

Beware the Archicorisaurus

Dorian loves dinosaurs. She loves them “even more than cats,” and that is saying something since every time she sees a cat she simply will not stop following it around. In fact, right now she has all of her dinosaur toys battling in the living room, and the giant T-Rex from Jurassic World is winning. Size does not always matter, however, and sometimes the little Velociraptor is the winner. As she says, “he is tricky, and he is fast.”

Dinosaurs also appear in her art. This piece is interesting as when I first asked her about it, she went into the fact that the Mom dinosaur here was going to eat the baby. When I said that this was morbid and sad, she said, “Mom, that’s nature, it just happens sometimes. They get hungry, and they know when they are weak.” I can’t argue there, and she does watch a lot of nature programming, so it is bound to make an impression.

My counter to this was that there were hearts, and that it really did not make sense for the mom dinosaur to do that since she obviously loved her baby. After a moment of consideration, she agreed. She made an amended story, and she created a new species name of dinosaur called the Archicorisaurus. The name is based on the spikes on the arch of their backs. They are “like a T-Rex” and large-sized meat eaters, but they are more “round and slow with smaller legs.” I asked her, and this does cause problems with catching food. “They are not great hunters, but they are really big, and no one messes with them,” she replied. “They also have really big teeth, so you have to watch out. They might not be fast, but if you are not paying attention, they can gobble you up in one bite.”

Point taken, Dorian. Pay attention to your surroundings or bad things might happen to you. It is a good lesson for us all.

 

The Tale of Gooey Louie

 

Dorian is quite the artist and sometimes draws for hours at a time. She also creates stories to go along with her work, so at least part of our blog will be dedicated to preserving her stories so that they can be enjoyed and remembered. This is the first of those stories, and it is the story of Louie. (Note: I think that the inspiration for his name came from the Gooey Louie game, although she swears that this is a different guy and there are more than one. She also refused to change his name to another rhyme, saying it was her creation and she had the right to keep it as is. I did not push this matter any further as she does have the right to artistic license. Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead, or fictional is purely coincidental.) 

“Gooey Louie is really, really grumpy. The one thing that makes him happy is food. He is a plate man, so he loves food. He loves food that is all of the colors that he is… every vegetable and every fruit. His cousin is Frank, and he bosses him around. He does not like Frank. He also does not like that he has no hands, but that’s how it is when you’re a plate.”

“Can I Tell You Something that’s True?”

“Everybody gets stupid sometimes… every day.”

This quote was said to me in the kitchen as I was making lunch. Dorian ran into the room with a sense of urgency to tell me this fact, and just as quickly, she ran out of the room to play. It’s a wise statement, and one that we would be best to not beat ourselves up over.

It’s been a while since I have posted. April of last year to be exact. I could say that we got too busy (we have been and we have been on many adventures that were blog worthy), but honestly the blog never had to stop in the process. I have missed it and it has remained in the back of my mind.

Miss Dorian is now a proud little 5-year-old. The blog was previously done with her actions and her mom’s thoughts, but we are going to switch it up a bit. Dorian has become more of her own person, and therefore, she can now have her own quotes and feedback. I will elaborate on her actions as needed so that things make sense, but little Dorian now has much more of a say in the content that is produced here. Five-year-olds, after all, are funny little creatures, and she has plenty to say herself.

Hey, Squirrel Buddy, Wanna Share my Pasta with Me?

Daddy loves animals, and a while ago he started buying sunflower seeds to feed our neighborhood bird and squirrel buddies. I help too and throw out seeds with Daddy in the mornings so that no one will go hungry.

We have lots of different birds of all colors that come around now, and we have a few squirrels that come every day too. One new squirrel buddy, though, seems to want to come inside to play (and eat my food). He puts his paws on the glass and looks back and forth. He is a curious little buddy, and I like to play with him because he does not run away when he sees me and puts his paws on my hands instead.

See him there? There he is while I am eating, looking in at me. I think he may have wanted his seeds and my pasta, too. I am learning all about sharing, little buddy, and I could let you in and give you pasta if Mama let me. Mama says that he would not really want to come in, though, because our doggie Django is a “rat terrier” and he is made to go after little creatures that move fast.

I guess his place is outside looking in, and that’s okay… after all, he is much different than me. I just watched The Fox and the Hound, so I understand that sometimes relationships have to be done a different way in order to make them work. You can still play with me, little fuzzy guy, at the window, and we can still be friends like Copper and Todd.

“And we’ll always be friends forever.” — Young Todd, The Fox and the Hound 

We’re all Mad Here…

When you roll around on the couch in the morning when the air is so, so dry… this happens. I have the hair of a mad scientist, Mama says, and since I like learning science and I am a bit “mad” in my imagination, I might just be a mad scientist in the making. Mama says that creativity and a bit of madness actually go together a lot of times too like in writers and scientists and artists, and what comes from that are some of our most loved stories and inventions and pictures. Maybe one day I too will find that spark of mad creativity, and I will be one of those loved people, too. Until then… I will use my static electricity creating and destroying the house while playing skills. Those sparks of madness, they are all set.

“Have I gone Mad?”

“I’m afraid so. You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”

— Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland

Can I Fix it? Yes, I Can!

I love Bob the Builder, and I even have a little wooden toolbox of my very own that I can use to fix my toys. I usually just fix little things because I am a little person. When I broke our big speaker, though, by hitting it when I was playing with my Nerf sword, I got to fix that all by myself.

Daddy asked what happened after he got home, and I didn’t say anything… after all, I know when staying quiet is a good idea. Mama ratted on me, though, so my cover was blown. I jumped in then, saying, “I can fix it! I can fix it all by myself!” I went and got the tape and kid scissors. Daddy helped me cut the tape, then I put the front of the speaker put on just right and put tape all around it to make sure that it didn’t move.

After I was done I stood back and admired my handiwork and was so proud. After all, I had never gotten the chance to fix something without help. I think that I did a great job for a 3-year-old. Even though Mama and Daddy chuckled (and Daddy had to come back to make slight changes to my fix), I think they thought that I did, too.

When you give a kiss, put a stamp on it and make it stick.

As a three-year-old, I don’t have too many responsibilities. One of those, though, and it is a really important one I have learned, is to give love. When someone leaves, or when I go to bed at night, or when Mama or Daddy is leaving for work, my job is to go up to them and to give them “a hug and a kiss.” If someone forgets when they are busy or running late, I run as fast as my little legs will carry me and I will shout, “Wait, WAIT!!! I forgot to give you a hug and a kiss!” It is with a sense of urgency that only a three-year-old can have. I must do this, and I must do it before anything else can happen.

The next step is very, very important. I have to “stamp” those kisses and hugs to make them “stick.” I have learned by using the stamp and ink pads that I have in the house, when you stamp something, you push down hard and then you let go of the stamper. It then makes a picture that “sticks” on the page. As long as you have that piece of paper, that picture will be there forever. Kisses and hugs, after all, are done when they are done… but if you stamp them, they must stick, too. So when I give my family a kiss and a hug, right afterwards I say the word “stamp” and push down with my little stamper-hand. My hand becomes a stamp, and I make them stay there just like the ink on paper. They will stick all day, they will keep my family safe, and they will keep my family with me until the next time that I see them again.

Why is this important? It’s because big people can seem to get lost in all that they do that they do not remember what is most important. Hugs, kisses, and love– they are the most important of all of the things. If we don’t have that, what do we have after all? What we all need to remember is that we can all stamp those hugs and kisses on the people that we must leave for a little while. Stamp those hugs and kisses, everyone, and seal them on the people that you love.

“I Just Felt Like Running.”

You see that? That’s me running my first race. I just got to run with the Healthy Kids Running Series, which helps kids like me who love to run to get to do races that are built for little legs like mine. Mama and Daddy asked if I wanted to do a race with other kids, and I said “YES” in my big kid excited voice. I didn’t even know that little kids like me could run in a race.

I have always loved to run. Ever since I practiced enough that my legs were so, so strong from moving, I have run more than I have walked. My Mama and me have this game. She says, “I’m going to eat your feet!” and she pretends to go in and chomp them up. I always say the same thing back to her, “No, you can’t eat my feet, they’re for running and walking. I LOVE RUNNING! I don’t want to walk, I want to run.” It is a fun game, but it’s true. I love to run. That’s me running through cattail “floof” as my Daddy likes to call the inside of a cattail.

My Mama and Daddy started running when I was really little, just over 2, and ever since I saw my Daddy start running so that he could get healthier, I started running after him. When my Daddy first started working to run every day, he had to go and get shoes that would help keep his legs happy, so we went to the running store to try them out. I might have been very small, but I was already very fast for my little size… and I squealed in the hallway trying to work hard to catch my Daddy.

I got better and better at it, and pretty soon my legs carried me so, so fast for my little size that Mama and Daddy told me that I was good at running. Of course I am, Mama and Daddy, that is what we are all meant to do after all. Isn’t that what legs are for?

If you see me running, I am smiling too. That is because that is joy… being free and getting to feel like the birds in the sky because I can fly too. I can fly with my feet, and they can carry me fast, fast, faster. I tell my Mama, “I’m soooo FAST!” all the time and tell her that she needs to run with me. I tell everyone to run because I want to share flying with everyone.

I have gotten so very fast now that cameras can’t always catch me right and they come out blurry.

I would be happy to just keep running and running everywhere that I go, but when my Mama and Daddy told me about the Healthy Kids Running Series, my Mama said my whole face lit up. Mama and Daddy do races, so I know all about them and the bibs and medals. I have touched them and worn them, but they weren’t mine– they were Mama and Daddy’s. The best part is getting to run with other people who love to run too, they said, so I was more excited about getting to run with other little kids my size. After all, Mama and Daddy have the long-leg advantage over me, so they can be faster when they want to (wait, though, Mama and Daddy, because one day my legs will be long like yours too).

They signed me up as soon as they knew that I wanted to do it, and before I knew it, I was there at a race. First I got my very own bib number, 100, which Mama and Daddy said was a very good number to get because it means complete and full effort… giving 100 percent is giving it your all.

We did warm up exercises, and at first I didn’t really get it. We did high knees and skips and runs across the big lawn, but when it was time to turn around, I just kept going until Mama shouted for me to stop and turn around. My Mama shouted “Stop, Dorian!” and I heard her say, “Alright little Forrest Gump.”I didn’t know who he was, but Mama explained that he’s a character from a movie and was a man that loved to run so much that he ran all the way across the country back and forth for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours, which is about my entire life up until now, so he must have really, really liked to run. He runs all the way through that movie from the time that he was a kid because he “just felt like running.” When he ran for a college football team, he got to the goal with the ball and just kept going just like I did when we were practicing, so I guess I am a lot like him. My Mama and Daddy said that being like Forrest is not a bad thing because he is what they call a “role model.” I like that, me being a role model. It sounds fancy and important.

When we were done practicing, we got in a big line of all of the girls my size. There I am waiting on the end in the pink pants.

When we were all ready they said, “On your mark, get set, GO!” really loud. I looked at my Mama, who told me it was time to run, and I ran as fast as my little legs would carry me. I ran and ran and ran all the way across the field to get to the end.

When I got there, though, I told Mama that I wanted to do it again. It was the boys’ turn, though, and my turn was over. That was hard for me to understand and I was sad, but Mama promised that I was going to come back and do it all over again, and when I did… I would get my very own medal.

Mama and Daddy were going out of town with my big sister on race day, so my Granny took me because no one wanted for me to miss it. My big, big sister Lilli and my giant brother Jonah got to come and see me run too. I understood the rules a bit better that time (although I did just keep running when I was supposed to stop every time still) and we got to play fun running games with all of the little kids, boys and girls.

After we got our muscles all warmed up, I got in line, and this time, I ran right when they said “GO!” to us. I ran faster this time too, but when I got to the end, I stopped because I didn’t want it to end and when I went over the finish line, I knew that it would be over. My giant brother Jonah told me that I would get my medal, though, so I went with him cheering me on to the finish.

When I crossed the line, they gave me my medal… my very own medal just for me. It went around my neck and I stared at it for a long time. It was my very first medal just like Mama and Daddy’s medals. I earned that medal just like Mama and Daddy… I ran and I earned it all by myself.

The best part? The kid on the medal looks just like me, a little running person with hair just like mine. I told everyone that I was the kid on the medal, that it was me on that award.

There it is up close. See? That’s Dorian, that’s me, that’s me running on that medal. Mama says that “symbolizes” me and all of the other kids that were running as hard as they could, whatever that means, but she’s wrong. It’s me on that picture because I love to run and running is me.

Next year I get to run the whole series again, and I’ll be older and bigger and I will be even faster and stronger. Get ready for Dorian, Healthy Running Kids Series, I’m coming and I’ll be running fast.

“Now you wouldn’t believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was going somewhere, I was running!” — Forrest Gump

 

 

 

 

Sometimes All it Takes is a Bit of “Mind Power.”

See that? It’s a train, and I made it all by myself this morning. My Mama was in the kitchen making me breakfast, and I came over and said, “You want to see my kitty train? I made it, come see it.” I then grabbed her by the hand and I took her over to our little library room to see my masterpiece.

This morning I got the blocks out all by myself, putting them all over the floor. I have done this many times because I love to build with blocks, but I usually just build towers that I make as tall as I can so that I can have an “earthquake” and I make them fall. I do this over and over. This morning, though, I wanted to make a train for my kitty. My Mama says that this was special because I was looking at the blocks and trying to figure out how to make a picture with them in my mind, and then I had to make that picture look like the one in my mind.

I had to get the Jenga blocks first (I took those for my projects instead of the game because they make for good building) to make the bottom part because they are bigger. Then I took the little blocks and built it up, and I put the round one at the front for the “steam” (as I explained to Mama) just like on Thomas the Tank Engine. I love that show, so I wanted to make my little train look like Thomas and Percy. I put the round piece up front so that it could have a “face” just like Thomas, too. Once I was done, it was time for my kitty to be the conductor of the train.

I was so very proud of my work as you can see from the giant smile on my face, and my Mama said she was very proud too and that it showed how my imagination is growing. My imagination is huge, Mama, as you can see from all of the games that I play every day. All that it takes is a bit of mind power, and I’ve got a ton to spare.