Me and My Shadow.

Mama and Daddy and me all go out for walks and runs and play sessions outside a lot. I can go and ride on my little balance bike, and I can run as fast as I can, and I can go and play with the bugs under the rocks and throw little rocks into the water near our little house. I love being outside in the warm, warm sun, and I love to feel the ground beneath me when I run so fast, so fast, that no one can catch me… not even the wind can keep up. No one, apparently, but shadow me.

When I was outside last time, I noticed while I was on my little bike and I noticed that a bigger version of me had made the ground dark in the shape of me, but bigger. I said, “what is that?” because I had never noticed that I had another me following me around before. My Daddy stopped me, and he explained that it was my “shadow,” and that it goes everywhere that I go, all over the place. He didn’t get too much into the “how” yet because he said I wouldn’t understand until I was a bit bigger, but he showed me instead how he had a biggggg shadow and that when you lean down really low that you can make shapes with your hands and move your shadow around the way that you want for it to go.

Then I tried it out myself, and I made my hands move all around while my shadow-hands moved with me. Everywhere I moved, they moved, and Daddy was right… I couldn’t get away from my shadow. My Mama says there is a boy who once lost one somehow named Peter that had to have it sewed back on, but she says not to worry because that can’t happen to me. I’m glad, because I like my shadow Dorian. I am never alone as long as I have her with me after all.

My Daddy is so, so smart, and he says he will teach me all sorts of things as I get bigger. As I tell Mama, I am so, so big already that I am practically grown. I have to admit, though, that I still have a lot of things to learn, and my Daddy is the best teacher that I could possibly have as I figure everything out and as I grow.

“All children, except one, grow up.” — J.M. Barrie

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Hello my Friend, Mr. Apple…

My Daddy is so silly, and he made me a little apple buddy to play with that had a face and little hands. I called him Mr. Apple, and I played with him, telling him, “Don’t worry, Mr. Apple, I won’t hurt you.” I had him play with my little Barbie dolls, and they talked to each other and had a great time. I was even wearing my Snow White dress, and I know that an evil witch gave her an apple too, so I was just like her (well, except for the fact that my Mr. Apple was not a poisoned apple and was a dressed up apple instead, but otherwise, it was just like the movie).

See? There he is. Isn’t he cute? The problem with Mr. Apple, though, is that deep down I knew that he was an apple. Deep down I knew that he was one of my favorite foods, and I knew that he was delicious under all of that cute. After a while of playing with him, I took his hands off and took a bite of him. My Mama heard me chomping on him… I just couldn’t resist his deliciousness.

He was just pretend after all, and he was food, so he couldn’t go to waste. He couldn’t have stayed my play friend for long because he would have gotten all yucky, so I made sure that he was nice and happy in his new place… in my belly. I’m sure that there will be a new apple buddy soon, and he just might meet the same fate… because apples? They are one of our very best foods. Crunch.

I Wanna go Fast! My Little Bike Cart.

Mama and Daddy have bikes to go around faster than feet can take them. I have a little bike too, but I am not faster than my feet yet, so Mama and Daddy bought me a little bike cart that goes behind my Daddy’s bike. I get all bundled up because it is cold, put on my little kitty helmet, and get strapped in so that we can go.

At first Daddy thought I would be scared, but I am an “adventurer,” and all that I wanted to go was to go faster, faster, faster. Daddy went around and around and I got to go so fast, and I squealed and shouted to go faster to Daddy. Daddy says that I am made without fear, and it is true. One day I will go fast all on my own, but until then, my little bike cart can carry me around with my Daddy and my Mama, and I can keep up just fine. Go, Daddy, go.

Just Like in my Dreams, There are Places Where We Can Fly.

You see that? That’s me jumping with my Daddy way up high in the air. We went to an entire place made just for flying like the birds called “Jumpology.” It is a big, big room full of squishy ground that you can walk on, but if you bend your knees and push, you can fly. The more you push, the higher you go, just like the birds with their wings, only my legs were my wings.

My little legs couldn’t take me but so far up unless Daddy helped me, but my family went way up in the air (especially Daddy, I had to look way up to see him flying around– he even made Mama a bit nervous). At first, like most new things that I do, I wasn’t quite sure, but Daddy took my hands and showed me how to get up in the air.

Before I knew it, I was a flying expert. I kept saying “jumping, jumping, jumping” over and over again because I figured out how to make it into the air. I then told my Mama, “I fly,” and off I went, into my own little square by myself in my little bird world. We flew and flew, my Daddy, my Mama, and my sister and brother (although they went off to fly by themselves), and before I knew it, I was a sweaty “mess” (as Mama said) and it was time to go home.

They had to pick me up and take me away at the end of our flight, and I made myself as sad as I could be and I pulled my arms towards the jumping place saying “jumping” in the saddest sound that I could make my little voice. They thought it was cute, but it was a pretty tragic moment; after all, it was probably the most free that I have ever been flying like the birds and the planes that I wave and say goodbye to every day in the air. I was those birds and those planes all at once at that moment.

Thanks, Daddy, for teaching me how to fly, and thanks for bringing me dreams of being in flight.

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.

The Wonderful, Magical Big, Big City of Pittsburgh

A little while back, Mama and Daddy and me all got to go on a long car ride all the way up to a place called “Pittsburgh.” Pittsburgh is a really big city in a giant state called “Pennsylvania,” and we got to do lots of really fun things there. Mama and Daddy’s friends, Dave and Michelle, invited us to visit them and their son, Josh.

Josh is my friend now, too. Josh is older than me, and he’s a great snuggler and play buddy. He has something called “Cerebral Palsy,” so his movement is different than mine and he has a chair that helps him get from place to place. He doesn’t let that slow him down much though… he moves all around a lot and he likes to stay really busy, which is part of why I loved him so, so much, because I don’t like to slow down, either. We got to play and play and play and in the days that I was there.

They have a bird named Bo that talks to everyone and whistles too. I had no idea that birds could talk because the ones in the sky that I see all of the time chirp in their own language. Everyone kept telling me not to put my fingers in the cage because little fingers like mine end up looking like something that she should bite even though Bo is a really nice bird that likes belly rubs. That was really, really hard to do because I like to touch everything, especially pretty and soft things, but I had to listen because the word “no” was used in that serious and loud way that means that the big people mean business and that what they are saying is important. I stood in front of the cage instead and said “birdie” and watched her instead and dreamed about the day when my fingers would be big enough to rub her belly and her head like the big people.

They also have kitties, although they did not seem to be giant fans of me running fast, but they didn’t run away from me like my kitty Jenga at home does. My favorite though was their giant doggie named Bruno that is a Pit Bull Mastiff mix, and he is one of Josh’s big protectors in life. Bruno is the biggest doggie that I have ever seen, much bigger than our little Mr. Django puppy. He is older so I couldn’t climb all over him, but I got to rest my head on him and hug him all that I wanted to. He was so sweet and gentle, and there is just something about putting your arms around a big warm puppy that makes your heart happy. Mama tells me that a man named Charles Shultz said that “happiness is a warm puppy.” That man was a wise one, I think, and Mama agrees because she said she loves this kid named Charlie Brown and this puppy named Snoopy, and Charles Shultz created them.

Dave and Michelle and Josh took us to see the big city, too. We went on a “Duckie Boat” tour and I even got to drive the boat (I have a little sticker to prove it in my little travel book). We saw all of the water because it is a river city like Richmond, my city, is, and we got to see all of the giant buildings downtown and the inclines that go up, up, up.

It was Memorial Day weekend, so we got to cook out and remember everyone who has fought for our country. At the end of all of the eating part, we went outside and got to play with these things called “sparklers.” It was the first time I had seen those and held them, and they are shiny but hot. Mama and Daddy were very careful to let me know that I could not touch the pretty light at the top. I thought that shiny and hot things and food are what Memorial Day is all about, but Mama and Daddy say that it is an important holiday to remember and that it is all about honoring those that we have lost. I don’t really get it yet, but Mama and Daddy tell me that when I am bigger I will know much more about Memorial Day and what it means.

Josh’s got to play with some of them too, and his whole face lit up just like the sparklers because he was so happy. July 4th is apparently all about family and friends and happiness, too.

It was so, so fun that time went by really fast, and before we knew it, we had to head back home. It hasn’t been long, but I miss them already, and I can’t wait to go back. I think that I might just be a big fan of Pittsburgh, and I know that I am a big, big fan of Dave and Michelle and Josh. 🙂

Water, Water, Everywhere, and Tons of Spots to Play

Everything around me is exciting, and every single day brings new things. My Mama and Daddy like to stay busy and moving around, and they are teaching me to do the same. I love to explore my world, but when I really think about it, the thing that I love the most is water.

I love my “baba,” which is my own word for bath, and I love our little pool outside where I can take cups and sit and play. I love sprinklers, fountains, and even two little cups of water where I can take the water from one cup and put it in the other, back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. Even when I drink water, I put my little hands in it sometimes and swish it back and forth, and I put some on my arms so that they can get all wet. Mama, my cleaning lady, doesn’t really like that, but I need her to know that I always have play and fun in the very front part of my brain.

I know the word “w-waater” really well, although it is a difficult one, so it takes me a bit longer to come out right and I have to focus really hard to make it sound exactly right. I am busy saying it over and over and over, though, because I always want to be around it playing.

There are big waters, like the ocean, and little ones, like our little pool when it is full, but all of them are for playing and getting soaking wet down to your bones, where all of you feels really soggy.

All of the types of water are fun to play in, and I get to play in the water every day. It really is the simple things in life that are the best, and water is one of the most simple but best things out there.

Water, water, everywhere, and tons of spots to play;
Water, water, everywhere, I love you more each day.

Hey There, “Fishies!”

There are so many different types of creatures in the world, and I am busy learning them all. There are doggies, my very favorite, and kitties (who don’t seem to like me chasing them as much as doggies do), and turtles that swim around and crawl too.

I have been to an animal park too, so I have seen other animals too that come from all over, like giraffes, and little monkeys, and chimpanzees, and goats, and llamas, and reindeer (who I hear help Santa out during Christmas time).

Besides doggies, though, my very favorite is fishies. Mama says you just say “fish,” and she maybe knows because she teaches writing, but I prefer the word fishies because it is easier and more fun to say.

I love fishies because I adore water and always want to be in it as much as I can—puddles, baths, pools… any water at all. What fishies do is live in the water, and they can’t ever even get out because they breathe under there like we breathe out in the air. They just swim around and around in the water all day. I think that if I had to pick a creature that I got to be, I would pick them because I would get to swim around all day long every day.

I can’t really be a fishie, although I can pretend to be one when I am playing in the water. What I can do, though, is go places and watch the fishies, like at the big park called Maymont near our house or at lakes or even in big fishie tanks. There are lots of places with fishies around, and I can pretty much spot them from a mile away, making the big people come and look, too. I watch them and watch them until the big people tell me that it is time to go, and even then I never want to. I could sit and look at them all day.

Sometimes they look at me too, and I wonder if they want to be a Dorian like I want to be a fishie. It’s okay little buddies, you’ve got a pretty good deal there under the water, swimming and free.

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.

Summertime is For…

  

Lots of cold delicious things. So many cold delicious things. I get sweaty and I need to stay hydrated after all. I love my water and juice, but the frozen cold things make me feel all chilly on the inside, and that is the best after running around in the sun. Since the sun has been really hot lately and has been making the Earth super warm, we need those cold things to keep us feeling okay to play some more and some more. Whoever invented cold frozen things long ago, thank you. You are a hero to all of the little people who need to run and play even when Mr. Sun tries his hardest to make us hot and tired. I am not going to give in, Mr. Sun… I have lots of cold things and I am ready to face you head on all summer long.