Next Stop, Mt. Everest. Up and Down… and Up… and Down… and Up Again.
My Mama watches me like a hawk. She says it is to make sure that I am okay and that I am safe. I say it is to interrupt my artistic decorating (Mama calls this baby Godzilla decorating as I move things all around the house) and my ability to go to new places in our house. Despite her efforts, I am finding new things all the time. Yesterday I found the basket of chargers and the dog food bag. Those are both in new places and I heard Mama say, “no, no, no” when she moved them.
She can’t stop me, though. No one can. I am an unstoppable force of nature like the hurricanes that I have heard about on the news. I can go anywhere and everywhere, and I am getting stronger every day. I can now climb all the way up the stairs to the big kid rooms and I even know how to go back again. The giant people in my life help me with this, and when they can’t, there is this big gate thing that they call a “baby gate” that stands in my way of progress. I shake it and shake it, but I can’t seem to get it loose.
I can also climb up and down on the couch and on Mama and Daddy’s bed so that I can look out the windows. I love windows because the big world is out there. I have “mastered” it, so Mama says, which means that I know exactly how to do it right. I swing my leg out wide and push up– which is pretty good since the couch and bed are both close to my neck and I have to use all of my strength to get up. I can get down too by facing my legs backwards and sliding down slowly. I have to stretch and wait until my feet hit the floor. Then I am up again, and then I am back down, and back up, and back down. Mama says that it makes her tired to watch. It makes me sleepy too, and it usually leads to a nap, but it is why I am a master. I have seen those rock climbers on t.v., and I know that they had to start somewhere. Mama says that anything that you want to do is possible, but you have to practice and practice and practice to get good at it. I practiced Mama, see? I am going places, all of the places, and soon you will need to run to keep up.
If you notice, the pictures of me are blurry. That is because I am so very, very fast. Catch me if you can (but don’t catch me really… I need my “me” time right now).
Dirt Baths… Nature Can be Wondrous.
I love outside. Everyone in my family does. I love it in a way that the rest of my family doesn’t understand, though. I love listening to the birds and seeing them fly way overhead. I love the breeze that hits my cheeks when the fall time is beginning. I love the way that the grass tickles my toes before I work to pull it out and crush it. I love the squirrels that come near me until I scream for them to come closer (they run away then, and I don’t know why… I just want to pat their fuzzy heads). What I love more than all of those things, though, is playing in the little herb plants that Daddy planted. I love the feel of the Earth in between my fingers. It’s squishy and soft and moist. I would try to eat it, but it crumbles in my fingers before I can, and then I have to go and pick more up over and over again.
My Mama is quite silly, and she doesn’t enjoy seeing me really dirty. Some of the people in my life like Daddy and Granny let me get food all over the place when I am eating, but Mama feeds me carefully. Daddy’s right, though, that is how I am going to learn one day to not be messy– I have to practice.
Playing in the dirt is like that. My Mama watches me and laughs, but she always looks a bit worried that the plants will suffer from my death grip hands or that I will take all of the dirt out of the pots and put it all over my clothes. I take some, it is nature’s Play-Doh after all. I can’t take all of it, though, and I leave plenty for my little friends the plants. I do like to rub it into my clothes and skin. It is like a dirt bath. Mama is not the biggest fan of dirt baths.
What she doesn’t understand, and what no one else in my family does really, is that dirt is meant to be felt. Everything (except for I guess the squirrels) is meant to be felt. It is a way to be close to outside. My Mama and Daddy sit in the sun and enjoys the breeze too, and they love outside. My big sister Addie and my big, big sister Lilli and my giant brother Jonah all like to be outside to run and play. They ride on those wheel things that they call bikes that I have but my legs aren’t ready for yet. They don’t stop though, to feel and to experience and to love the Earth as much as I do. Mama says that soon I’ll be so busy running and playing to remember, even before I am a giant person like her, but I hope that I don’t. Nature, at its finest, is still, and you can even feel God if you breathe the air in just the right way.
Little People Can Be Some of the Biggest Inspirations– The Very Inspiring Blogger Award.
All in one day Mama told me that I got the Lovely Blog Award and the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. That is a lot to take in for me—because I don’t really understand recognition. Mama said that being recognized means that someone is letting you know that you are helping them out or doing a good job. I don’t do much—I just smile and laugh—and Mama and Daddy seem to melt. I guess that I am pretty powerful after all if I can do that.
Mama said that this award is pretty special because it means that you are an inspiration. That is a big word, so she had to explain it to me. She told me that it means that you encourage others and that you are a good example for them. I do think that big people should live more like us “little people,” so hopefully I help others to do that, I am already working on doing good in the world.
Melody of “Life’s Daily Dose” nominated me for this award. Her blog is wonderful and we nominated her for a different award today because Mama loves to read her work. Please check her site out at http://blog.lifesdailydose.com.
Here are the “rules.” I am generally a rebel (Mama says that is a word for rule breaker), but I know that sometimes following what you should do is important.
– Display the above logo on your blog
– Provide the link to the person who nominated your blog
– Nominate 15 bloggers who have inspired you
– Inform those bloggers of their nomination and placing links to their blogs
http://richardsfoodforthought.com
http://momsasaurus.wordpress.com
http://youaintspecial.wordpress.com
http://katcarpita.wordpress.com
http://14weeksworthofsocks.com
http://killingketones.wordpress.com
http://farawaymeblog.wordpress.com
http://aregularindiangirl.wordpress.com
http://pukahworks.wordpress.com
http://confessionsofateenagerunaway.wordpress.com
Mama says that there are a lot of diabetic blogs on the list this time for my big sister Addie—because it is always good to have support for T1D. We also love to travel, so we picked a few travel blogs, too, and we love beautiful words and art, so all of the blogs include beauty with words or pictures. Thank you all for making such wonderful work to share with others.
If you do not wish to do a post, no worries. We just wanted to take the time to recognize you all.
Thank you so much again, Melody. ☺
XO, Dorian Dean
A Little Brown House all of My Own
With the big drum set for my big sister Addie came a giant, giant box as big as six of me. Mama placed me in that big box with some of my favorite toys, and I got to make it my own little house. I closed up part of the lid and I hid from the world, and it was all mine. It needs a bit of décor of course, but I could make this place work. Bye, Mama, bye, Daddy, bye Jonah and Lilli and Addie… I’ll see you guys later. I have some things that I need to do right now, and I need “me” time.
I’m a Big Girl Now, and I Can Swim All By Myself… With the Help of My Little Float
My favorite thing in the world to do is to be in water. I love all water… big pools of water and little ones. I love that Mama and Daddy take me to the pool because it is where I am the happiest. I swim until I pass out from the fun building up and making my eyes really heavy.
This summer I got a little float that my legs go through with a sunshade and little stars that squeak when I hit them. It has bright rainbow colors and it is soft and smooth against my skin. That float is my favorite thing in the water because now I can float on my own (with Mama and Daddy standing by watching over me) and kick my legs. I can even go from one end of the pool all the way to the other if I want to, and Mama or Daddy can swim beside me. I can also just float and take in the calm of the water when my legs aren’t kicking.
My “Auntie” Jill (who is my Godmother too) even took me down a slide this summer. She held me tight and up enough so that no water got in my mouth and nose, and we landed fast with a big splash.
Mama says that since school has begun now that summer is fast coming to an end because it is going to get cold soon, but she told me that there are indoor pools, too, that we can visit when that happens so I can keep on swimming. I sure hope so, because there is just something so peaceful and free about being in the water.
Goodbye summer, until next time. You have been a hot and wet one, but you are so far my favorite.
You Were Made for Me, Green Smoothie. Get in My Belly. Now.
Hello yummy pineapple, mango, spinach smoothie. You are my obsession. Let me scoop you up and you can go into my tummy. Mama says that you become energy, and I believe her, because with you I can fly all around the house as quick as lightning… right up until my nap.
Let’s Go… in the Winn-e-bago…
Daddy and Mama had a huge surprise for me the other day—a car that is also a house called a Winnebago. I thought that there were only boxes with wheels called cars for people and giant, giant things called “trucks” that carried lots of things from one place to another. Daddy explained that there are really a lot of different types of boxes with wheels, though, and he said that some of them are like little houses.
Daddy has always wanted a Winn-e-bago since he was really little (not that much bigger than me). He told me that he remembered being a kid and riding in one and getting to sleep in the bed that is way, way up above the driver’s seat, and he fell in love with them right then and there—not the kind of love that he has for me, but the kind of love that you can have for a house on wheels. Daddy said it’s way different but you can still have love for things sometimes, too.
Daddy has been searching for one for a long time, but he said that they are hard to find in good shape because they are really old, an “antique.” He said that they are even older than he and Mommy are, so I know that he means business because they have been around for ages.
Daddy and Mommy and me have already taken a trip together to go camping for the night. Instead of going to a hotel like we did on our big, big trip across the country, we just stayed right there, right in our house on wheels. We had a stove to make food, we had beds, and we even had the cold air machine that Mama calls an “air conditioner.” It got so cold in there that we had to turn it down. We were comfy, and Daddy says he’s just going to keep fixing it up more and more so that we can just “get up and go.” He says that’s a good way to be in life, and I agree. I don’t like to stay still hardly ever, and I always am up for seeing new things and going to new places. Daddy says that camping means “peace.” I know he’s right, because I felt calm the entire time and I stayed happy. Our little house even brought us right to where a big lake was and I got to splash with my Daddy, so I know that it is one of the best things that Daddy has ever gotten.
We have gotten to play in our little house on wheels a bunch already too, and Daddy says that we are going to keep our little home, which Daddy named “Piglet,” for a long, long time until I am big. I sure hope so, Daddy, because I want to keep right on going and going and going and going.
Adults Can Be Kids, Too: The Magic of Dragoncon
Mama and Daddy and me just took a big, big trip all the way to Atlanta (which Mama called Hotlanta, and I sure agree with her because it was crazy hot there). It is where my Grandpa and Linda live, and although they have come to see me, I had never been to see them. Mama says that it is important to travel as much as you can to see the world, but she says that traveling to see family is also very important.
Grandpa had gotten tickets for Mama and Daddy to go to Dragoncon, which is like a giant, giant party for people of all ages. Mama and Daddy had told me that there were going to be a lot of people there that were dressed up like all types of characters from different things like movies, video games, comics, cartoons… everything. They told me… but I had no idea until I saw it. Those people were everywhere, tall, small like me, old people, kids—people of every age all became all of these other creatures. Everywhere I looked there were more of them, and sometimes there were so many people that we just stopped because we had to wait for people in front of us to go through the little walkways from one place to another. There were so many creatures, and it was amazing that all of those people could magically become characters from the storybooks Mama and Daddy read to me. To me they were real, and Mama and Daddy never corrected the wonder that they saw in my eyes because I know that to them some of them were real, too.
We walked around and looked at all of those creatures. I just squealed the entire time and laughed. Mama says I’m not scared of anything. I know what fear is, but why would I have a reason to be scared of a big person acting more like a kid than an adult? We met many people… Chewbacca, a giant furry person with a belt (Daddy says that he is from Star Wars and that I will watch it one day soon), lots of Disney characters (I liked the Elses, and there were a lot of them, best because I can sing along to her song where she lets it go), elves with big pointy ears, dwarves, wizards, soldiers, warriors, and even superheroes like Batman and Superman and Wonder Woman. There were so many people that I didn’t know, but Mama and Daddy told me all of the names of the ones that they knew. They didn’t even know them all, and I thought that they knew everything there was to know in the world by now. Mama told me, though, that you can never know everything, which is really what makes life worth living because you can keep on learning and learning forever.
I had two favorite parts of all of the things that I saw and did. The first was the giant parade. We had to wait for a long time, but then I got to wave and shout at all of those characters. I even got some of their attention and they waved back to me. They had cars with “famous” people (Mama says fame is when you know who someone is even when you have never met them before) and characters. They had warriors that drew bows and had swords, and they had scary nightmare creatures, too—but I knew that they wouldn’t hurt me. My favorite was the “Ghostbusters” with the “I Ain’t ‘Fraid of no Ghost” song and their loud siren and their light-up backpacks. They danced around and sang, and I got to shout-sing along with them. They were so exciting that I fell asleep right after they came and went.
I also really loved the magical machine that lifted us up and down called the “escalator.” The MARTA, which I think must mean Magical Amazing Realm Through Atlanta , has a huge one that takes you up and up and up. You can’t even see the top from the bottom and the bottom from the top, and you get to fly. I stretched my legs and put my arms out, and I could fly way up or way down just like the birds that I see.
Magic exists, I know it, and magic was at Dragoncon. It wasn’t all of the characters and the crowds—it was the fact that everyone there, even those who had been on the Earth for a long, long time, remembered being little and went back to that wonderful place of innocence. Everyone put away their big person self in a locked up box for a while. They played, they danced… and for a moment, I could see that all of them forgot their silly-big-people worries that never matter really. It was there in their smiles and their faces, and even Mama and Daddy were little just like me.
I am One! Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to… Meeeeeee…
Today, Mama said, is my very first birthday. I wasn’t sure what a birthday is, but Mama explained that there are things called years, and when they come around full circle to the same date on a thing called a calendar, that it is celebrated as the day of your birth. She told me that I came into the world in the middle of the night, 3:24 a.m., and that at this time last year her and Daddy were in the hospital with me and that we were all busy getting to know each other.
Mama told me that birthdays were very special days, and even though it is kind of like every other day, that we need to stop and appreciate the person who came into the world that day—to show that person that we love them very much. Mama and Daddy have both covered me in kisses and told me “happy birthday” and “love you” a lot today, and they both have played with me, too. They do this every day, but they have spent special attention to making sure that I know how much they love that I have come into their lives. Silly Mama and Daddy—I know that already (but I do love the snuggles and kisses all the same).
We did a lot of my favorite things today… I got to play with my doggie Django, I got to ride in the jogging stroller while Mama and Daddy took a walk, and we went to one of my favorite places to eat (I even got orange slices at the end). One of my favorite parts of today, though, was cake. Mama and me went to have cupcakes at Nana’s house, and Nana told me that she loved me too and gave me a giant house full of “Little People” to play with. Then we went and got more cupcakes for after dinner from Pearl, a cupcake place in town with vegan cupcakes that are almost too sweet, if there is such a thing, for our Mama-Daddy-birthday-celebration with the Happy Birthday Dorian song. I got to eat all the cake that I want (well, not all the cake, because everyone else got some too), and I got to get sticky and messy and nobody cared… not even Mama, and she hates big messes.
Mama said that my birthday isn’t over yet, even after today, because we are having a “birthday party” in a couple of days and that I get homemade cake then, too. Mama said then I get more toys and that I am going to get to play all day long.
Mama and Daddy tell me to live every day of my life like it is my birthday, and to live with passion (which Mama says is a fancier way of saying live your life by throwing yourself into it). I do this already, but Mama says that some people forget later on how to live with passion. Mama and Daddy want me to always, always do this, and if I do, they say that I will have a very special life, and special birthdays, every year… even when I am very old like they are.
“It takes a long time to become young.” – Pablo Picasso
This is Gonna Be the Best Day of My Life… My Li-i-i-i-i-i-i-ife.
I love music, and Mama puts music on for me a lot on the computer box and sits me on her lap to watch. She puts me a bit far away most of the time, which I don’t like because I like to reach over and touch the screen and to type on the keyboard. Mama says sometimes it is more like banging, but I love that loud clicky sound that the keyboard makes when I use my fist instead of my fingers. Mama says that’s because that’s the keyboard’s way of screaming, but I prefer to think that it is laughing like when I am tickled.
We watch all kinds of music videos, but my favorite one so far is American Authors “Best Day of my Life” dog version. That doggie is so silly and he licks the screen, and if Mama lets me, I lick him back. The video is bright and colorful, and the music is so beautiful that I can’t help but bounce up and down.
Mama said that American Authors did a great thing when they made that video because it reminds people that there are many, many doggies out there that need homes, and she said that the best day of any doggie’s or kitty’s life is when he/she is adopted and goes to a loving home. I don’t understand why there are extra doggies and kitties in the world than there are people, because I think that some are born to be in a certain home, like our Mr. Django and our Jenga are born to be with us. It’s just like me… I was born to be my Mama and Daddy’s… it’s just that our doggie and kitty have more legs than I do.
Music is one of my favorite things, and that song is one of my favorite songs because you just can’t help but be happy watching the video and hearing how happy the people singing are. Mama says that music moves you more than almost anything on the Earth, and I believe her because I can feel it on my insides when I listen to happy songs. Thanks, little video box that brings me music and joy, you make my days happy.
“I hear it calling, outside my window, I feel it in my soul.
The stars were burning so bright, the sun was out ‘till midnight,
I say we lose control.”
— American Authors, “Best Day of my Life”
Liebster
One Lovely Blog Award
Very Inspiring Blogger Award
Sisterhood of the World Bloggers
Dorian's Hand 