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.

 

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It’s Daddy Car Party Time!

Sometimes, when it is just me and my Daddy in the car, we can be silly. Daddy will make funny faces at me, and I can play and dance and shout-sing and laugh, and we have such a good time. My Daddy sent Mama this picture to show her just how much fun we were having shout-singing and laughing together.

Sometimes though, all that shout-singing and laughing and dancing, with the buzz of the car and the noise of the road passing under our little car can make my eyes so, so heavy so, so fast that before I know it, we’re home and I don’t remember getting there.  Oh Daddy, you’re so good at wearing me out with the highest level of fun that a little girl could ever have.

Sometimes the Best Place on Earth is the Most Simple One.

Sometimes, when I am tired, or stressed, or worried, the very best place to be is in the arms of someone that you love. It doesn’t matter where you are… outside, inside, near your house or far… it matters that you are safe and warm and protected and at peace. The calm that my Daddy can bring me when I am upset or worn out? It is more beautiful than anything.

Where Oh Where Has Dorian Been?

I have been MIA in the blogging world– for an entire month– which for me is ages and ages and ages. I have been quite busy and so have Mama and Daddy, and they haven’t really been able to help me with getting all of the words out that I want to say. I can’t do it on my own yet, especially since all of the words that I want to write are in my head and my fingers are too little to get them out, plus I don’t know the thing that Mama calls spelling since I am busy learning the letters that makes the words.

What has kept Mama so busy is that she has been looking for a new job, and she was told today that she is going to be working for a new university teaching from home, so now she is getting “back to life.” What Mama doesn’t know is that life is always there, she just had to put helping me write on hold for a little bit. That’s okay, Mama, I can be patient… sometimes. All that I know is that I am happy that my Mama can be around me even more than she always has been. After all, I am not a fan of her going away to “work.” Work can be right here at home now, Mama, or wherever we are.

My Mama promised, though, that now we can get back to writing out all of my adventures and how I am getting bigger, bigger, bigger. In the past month I have learned new words, I can say a lot of sentences, and I can tell her more and more and more about what I want and need. This sometimes means shout talking, and we are working on my quiet inside voice. I am not good at that yet. I can now go up the steps without holding on or help like a big person, and I can run faster too. I am in the stage that Mama and Daddy call the “terrible twos,” which means that I am sometimes a bit too demanding and that I can get my angry face really fast when things don’t go my way. Everything is mine, it’s all Dorian’s, all for the taking. That’s not so terrible, though, Mama and Daddy. I’ll figure it out. It’s all new, and I just want a piece of all of the things, that’s all. I will learn, because you will teach me, patience and kindness and understanding. I know love already, and I tell you that I love you all of the time, and I have learned “kisses.” I give love in my own way, and I am just making my own space in the world.

So where has Dorian been? A bit of everywhere, doing a bit of everything, and loving every minute of it.

Let’s Play, Granny Grace

That person right there, the one lifting me up high, high, higher, is my Granny Grace. My Granny is my Dada’s Mommy, and she loves to play with me more than almost anything that she does.

My Mama and Daddy say that I am really, really lucky because I have so many people in my life that love me. They say that if I have more people that love me than I have fingers on my hands that I am luckier than many people in the world. I don’t know how to count on my fingers yet, but there are so many people that I bet that I am one of those lucky ones. My Mama and Daddy tell me that they want me to grow up knowing that I am loved every single day by our family, and they say that as I get bigger that I will understand how very important all of our family is to me.

My Granny is one of those special people who is in our big love circle. She loves to get down and play games with me, to play cooking with me, and to play in my little pool in the water with me. She loves to take me to the park and to slide down slides and to push me in the “little kid” swing. We just play and play and play, and I keep on going until my energy battery is all worn down.

Granny also works hard to make things special for me, and she even made me my own play house to play in with windows and flowers that has a bunch of stuffed animal buddies in there waiting for me. It is just the right size for me, and it even says “Dorian’s House” on it, so everyone will know that it is all mine (although sharing is important she says, and being friendly is too, so I invite people in from time to time… when I don’t need “me” time, that is).

My Granny is a big play buddy, and she is also one of my many protectors in life. We need those, us small people, to keep us safe and warm. Thanks, Granny Grace, for laughing with me, playing with me, and watching me grow.

Be Very, Very Quiet. It’s Dorian Season.

I found a new place to hide in the little cabinet in the kitchen. It is just my size, and there isn’t much in there so I fit perfectly. I can climb right in when no one is looking, put my feet in and curl up, and take my hand to shut the door gently so that it won’t hurt me and no one can hear me shut it. I am safe in there and no one can find me. It is my special little thinking-hiding spot.

All of the other cabinets in the kitchen have these little lock things that only let the cabinet open a crack for me and I can’t get in (Daddy called this “baby proofing”) because there is stuff in those ones that I shouldn’t have. Daddy, I am a big, big girl now, so I’m not sure about that “baby” part, but I will let it go because you told me that I am not sure what is safe and what is not yet and you are keeping me from getting hurt. I guess you let that one little cabinet be a safe one, though, because there isn’t a lock on it. I found it, Daddy. I find everything.

I am an excellent hider. I think that you guys might just be on to me now because I have hidden there before, but the first time that I did it you all went all around the house calling my name because I was so fast and was “gone” in a second. That’s how little people work—we can be fast and sneaky when we want to be, especially when we are playing a game.

Everyone passed right by me saying “Dorian?” over and over, and after a few times I heard you guys get worried about me. Since you “baby proofed” the house with door handle locks and baby gates and you shut off the dangerous spots, I don’t see why there was any cause for worry, but if a little one gets quiet, I hear that sometimes it means that there is trouble too. I guess I follow you all on that one because of the time that I drew all over the fireplace and the table in permanent marker and the time that I took off all of my clothes in my crib. I was as quiet as a mouse those times, and I knew what I was doing when I didn’t make a peep.

Eventually I put a crack in the little door, and my giant brother Jonah found me first and called out to everyone to show them where I was. Mama scooped me up then—I think she may just worry more than any of the rest of us—and she hugged onto me really tightly even though she was laughing too.

Now I can hide in there and everyone can play the “where’s Dorian?” game with me, which is one of my very favorite games. Now you see me, now you don’t… and now you do, and you don’t, and you do, and you don’t again. If you can’t find me, don’t worry—I am just busy mind-adventuring in my thinking-hiding spot. In there, I can be in a plane or a car or a park or anywhere that I want to be. Bye-bye everyone, I’ll see you after I am done mind-adventuring.

What Giant Brothers Do For Little People Like Me.

I have a big family with two sisters and one brother: my big sister, Addie, my big, big sister Lilli, and my giant brother Jonah. Right now though, everyone is “the” to me, so they are all “the Addie,” “the Illi,” and “the Nonah” (I have a bit of trouble with the L and the J sounds so far, but I am working on them).

All of them play with me and hang out with me, and they help me when I need help, too. They also help Mama and Daddy with me since I can be pretty time consuming sometimes—I have a lot of needs after all.

My giant brother Jonah is getting ready to turn 12, which means that he has something called a “decade” on me. That apparently is a long time in life, so he has a huge head start.

Because of that head start, Jonah can do lots of things that I can’t quite do yet. He climbs up to the tops of giant trees, he can get on a bike and shoot off really fast, he can do flips because of his gymnastics lessons, and he can run really fast, too (not as fast as Daddy, but he’s a ton quicker than I am). He can ride on his dirt bike and go even faster too—all of these things that I want to be able to do but my body isn’t ready for quite yet.

I look up to my giant brother so much because he can do all of these things, and I know that he will help me to learn all of the things that he does too when I am ready. After all, when I fall down and hurt myself from running fast, he scoops me right up, makes me feel better, then puts me back down to have me do it all over again. That’s how I learn, and he knows when to make me feel better and when to go off to do what I need to do in order to learn to move better and better. I get stronger every day, and Jonah is right there waiting to help me to grow just as strong as I can be.

What do I love most about my giant brother, though? When we get really, really still and we sit in front of a video about bubbles or puppies or Frozen songs (even though he doesn’t like it—he watches just for me). That’s when we are at our best, my brother and me, because that’s how it should be. He is one of my biggest protectors, and he keeps me safe and comfy and warm. Thank you for being there for me, “Nonah.”

I Love my Nana, and my Nana Loves Me.

See that? That’s me reading a book on my little bean bag chair at my Nana’s house, which is a very special place.

Most of us little people have Mamas, and all of those Mamas do an awful lot of stuff for us little people. Those Mamas, though? Most of those Mamas have Mamas too, and to us little people, they are called “grandmothers.” Daddies have them, too, and they used to do all of the same things that our Mamas and Daddies now do for us when they were little people. Those people must be called “grand” because they are really, really special. After all, they have a lot of life experience.

My Mama’s Mama is my Nana, and she is the one who takes care of me while my Mama goes to teach her classes. My Nana loves me very much, and my Mama tells me that she likes to give me lots of treats and snuggles when I am in a snuggly mood. She also does not like photographs, so my Mama can’t seem to capture the snuggle part.

We do lots of fun things at my Nana’s house, and she has lots of toys to keep me from missing my Mama so much for the long, long time that she is away. Mama says that it is “only a little bit of time,” but to me 30 minutes seems like too long to wait for anything. After all, I don’t have as much life behind me as she does.

Nana, like many “grandmothers” for little people, likes to “spoil” me and give me lots of fun things. Some of those things don’t make sense, like becoming a “bucket head princess” since I like to put hats on my head.

My Nana also has what she calls a “walker,” which is to help her to get from one place to another. My Nana’s knees she said are “not as good as they used to be.” She says that this is because she has been around for a long, long, time. I don’t need the walker, but I can use it to hang on or to play pretend games, and my Nana says that I look “much cuter than she does” when I play with it and pretend to take it as my help-with-walking machine.

My favorite thing about Nana’s house though? Besides her snuggly dog and Sesame Street that is, is all of the lovely popsicles that she has waiting just for me. I can have one every time that I am there… sometimes even two (but don’t tell my Mama because she only allows me one at a time).

No matter what we do, though, my Nana keeps me happy and busy the whole time every time. My Mama says that’s because she loves me more than she loves pretty much anything on the Earth, and she says that Nana feels very lucky to have me in her life. I think, though, Nana, that I just might be the lucky one. I am learning to say “I love you” right now… wait for it, but know that I do.