Quick Mama, Before the Giant Snowflakes Go Back Up in the Sky!

Oh Mama, those snowflakes are gigantic. I am a snow expert now with the weather this year, and those are the biggest that I have ever seen. Have you seen any that big before, Mama? Can we play? Can I see them? Quick, before they go away. I know it’s cold, but I am big now and I can handle it. I am using my giant yelling voice to let you know how excited that I am. Okay? Yes?

I heard you say, “one minute,” because it is so cold. I get to feel them on my face though, Mama, and they tickle my skin. I know we can’t really stay out here, but I love it because everything is so still and so quiet. It is peaceful out here, Mama, even though it’s cold, and I feel like these snowflakes were made just for me.

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I am a Snow Queen! Can we Just Build a Snow House and Live Out Here?

Yesterday Mama, Dada, and me woke up to everything being white all around us. The grass was all gone and the cars and everything looked like big lumps of white, too. It looked like God had painted the whole world white. Dada told me that this was called snow, and he promised me that I would get the chance to play outside when it was a bit warmer. I kept looking out the windows at it all morning, but Mama said that the best time would be after my morning nap time because it was still a bit too cold for really little people.

I am too little to think about when I get tired… I just do. I wore out early from all of the snow watching, and when I woke up, Mama said that lunch would happen and then we would get bundled up to go outside. Mama wasn’t playing around with that one– she got me in my regular clothes, a pink slick suit called a “snowsuit,” a jacket, extra socks, mitten gloves for my hands, and a little hat. She laughed and said something about me looking like the little kid from A Christmas Story and “I can’t put my arms down!” I don’t know what any of that means, but I know that I sure was warm and ready to brave the cold.

When we got outside, though, I didn’t know quite what to do. My feet sank into the white world, and my legs weren’t long enough yet to be able to get them out. I got stuck, but I wasn’t scared. Mama and Daddy, after all, were right there to help me with that walking part. I got to use my mitten hands to pick up snow and I put it right in my mouth. It was like a soft ice cube, and I wanted to keep eating and eating it. Daddy took off the sharp part of a long ice stick that he called an icicle and helped me to snack on that, too. It was like a snow snack party, and it was my very favorite part. I love cold things, and there is an entire world of cold things outside right now.

Then Daddy had to finish working on the driveway to make sure that it was safe to be able to venture out into the rest of the world. He took a giant stick with a wide thing at the end that he told me was a snow shovel and he took the snow from our little driveway and put it in our yard. The snow got higher and higher around our little driveway, and Daddy let me play in the loose piles that were easy to get to. Daddy works too hard, and I like to help out, so I got the big stick and helped him get the snow away. I think that I did a good job, and Mama and Daddy both laughed and told me that I had a good shovel “technique,” which they said is a fancy way to say how you do a certain thing. I think by the end that I was quite the professional.

When Daddy’s work was all done, although Daddy says it never really is, he got down in his big work snow suit and played with me. Daddy made balls out of the snow and handed them to me to throw, and he threw some really hard across the yard and on our little Winnebago house on wheels, too. We laughed and played and played until Mama said that I must be a frozen Dorian-cicle, and she took me inside to do my other favorite thing… take a warm bath and get all toasty inside.

I think that snow might just be my favorite thing right now. This changes a lot… after all, I am still seeing new things all of the time, but playing in the snow with my Daddy? That just might be one of the best things that I have ever done. Love you, little white world in my backyard. Can’t wait to have another playdate soon.

I Can Taste the Earth, and it’s Delicious.

Daddy is our cook, and last night he made a yummy veggie stew with tomatoes, leeks, carrots, asparagus, squash, zucchini, barley, and herbs. It was so, so good in my belly that I couldn’t wait for the new bite while I was eating the one in my mouth. I wanted it to get in my belly faster than I could even swallow it.

Because it cooked for a long time, it was soft and it melted together when you ate it. That’s how stew is, Daddy says. It cooks for a while, and all of the flavors come together in a way that makes it all taste yummy and slide right down into your belly. It makes you warm and cozy, and since it is cold outside here, that is perfect to make you feel sleepy and happy.

Before the food melts together though, it goes into the big strainer so it can get washed and then it gets cut up. I like to take the pieces of food that most people don’t eat cold, and I take big bites out of them. Last night Mama washed an entire leek and when I reached for it, Daddy gave it to me thinking that I may play with it. Instead, though, just like I do for lots of veggies, I took a bite out of it like an apple with my four little teeth. Then I took another, and another, and another, until the leek had a large part missing from it. It was all chewed up when I gave it back to Daddy.

I do that with a lot of veggies before they are cooked, which Daddy says are “raw foods.” They give me pieces of all of the veggies to eat before they are heated up. I love them—they taste like the dandelions that I am always stealing from the yard and eating.

Daddy says that raw veggies are really healthy because heating them up takes some of the good stuff in the food out of the food, and he says some people only eat “raw” food that is barely heated or not heated at all so that they can get all of the good stuff. He said that it is good that I like them as much as I do, and he says if I keep eating that way and liking those things that I will be really healthy as I get bigger and bigger. I don’t care about that, though, I just care that I can taste the Earth with every bite… and the Earth tastes wonderful.

Make Way for Dorian: the Boston Public Gardens

Today, on our last day in Boston, we went to the Boston Public Gardens and the Boston Commons. The Public Gardens is one of the most beautiful parks that I have ever seen, and it stretches on and on and on, so we just kept going in my little wheel machine stroller. We saw gorgeous trees everywhere, and there was a lake there too that Daddy said has swan boats out when it is warm (too bad for us that it wasn’t warm enough for the swan boats to come out and swim).

There may not have been swan boats out, but there were squirrels… fat, happy, squirrels that would eat out of your hands. (I heard Mama say, “Are they rabid?,” whatever that is, because she had never seen squirrels come quite that close before.)

Mama likes the Public Gardens because she is a “book person” and English instructor, and a man named E.B. White wrote a book with the gardens in it and “Make Way for Ducklings” by Robert McCloskey was about a family of ducks that goes to the garden, too. They are both books for little people like me, so Mama promised that I will learn all about them soon.

We went over and had our picture taken inside a picture frame in front of the lake, too. It was so exciting that I fell right asleep right after while Mama and Daddy continued to see as much of Boston as they could possibly see before leaving. Hurry, Mama and Daddy… our time is running short.

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.

Nature, Harmony, Balance, The Tree of Life… and Little Me

Mama and Daddy have this big wall hanging that Daddy calls a “tapestry” in their room near the big bed that should be mine. They disagree because they are bigger people, but I say that they could fit in the little bed with bars if they tried hard enough and we could switch.

I have been touching that tapestry since I was really, really little a long time ago… since I could touch things, but Mama told me today what the tree was and what it meant.

Mama says that it is Celtic, and she said that means that it is from a far away place across the ocean and that it came from Ireland, a place that she and Daddy both love and a place that a lot of my family came from before they came here (Mama explained that this was a long, long time ago).

It is a tree, which is one of my favorite things on Earth, but this tree’s branches make a big circle around it that is woven together like the braids that Daddy puts in my sisters’ hair sometimes. Mama tells me that this means that all life is connected and that we are all part of nature and all part of a big family on Earth. She says that she takes the tree as everything and everyone being connected together, and she says that it reminds her that everything on Earth is to be cherished when she sees it each morning.

Mama didn’t have to tell me that—I already know it. Every little person is born knowing that we all are connected and should love one another, but big people tend to forget because they have what Mama calls “life stress” and are too busy to remember. I say that big people should slow down, relax, and realize that nothing that they worry about matters as much as the connection and love that we all have in us. Glad Mama has that reminder, though… she seems to need it since she runs around so much “cleaning.” Stop it, Mama, I’m just going to mess it up again.

Sometimes Others Make you Feel Special and Wonderful… The Liebster Award. :)

Today my Mama told me that I had been nominated for an award called the “Liebster Award.” Mama let me know that this was an award given to new bloggers by other bloggers that have read what they have created. It’s really wonderful to be recognized, especially when you are new to the Earth. I won a contest a bit ago, and now I have an award—all before I am a year old. My Mama says that she is really proud of me and that I am to do great things in my lifetime. Thank you, Regular Indian Girl, for nominating me.

Mama loves reading blogs and sometimes reads them to me, and she said that A Regular Indian Girl’s blog is one of the ones that she enjoys reading the most. She doesn’t read her blog to me because she says that many of the posts are things that I would not understand yet, but she says that she speaks about the strength of women a lot, so I am sure that I will love reading her blog when I get bigger and my brain is ready. Her blog can be found here:

http://aregularindiangirl.wordpress.com. Please check out her wonderful blog. ☺

Mama says that there are rules for accepting this award. I don’t understand rules and hardly even understand that word “no” that Mama and Daddy say when I am getting close to breakable things or when I am moving to the puppy’s water bowl, so my Mama is going to have to help me with this one.

Here are the rules:
1. Thank the Liebster Award presenter who nominated you and link back to his or her blog.
2. Post 11 facts about yourself, answer the 11 questions you were asked and create 11 questions for your nominees.
3. Nominate small (no more than 200 followers) blogs who you feel deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog letting them know that they have been chosen.
4. Display the Liebster Award logo.
5. No tag-backs, meaning you can’t just re-nominate the person who nominated you.

Whew… that’s a lot of stuff to do. This may take until after my next nap. I guess that the next thing that I need to do is to share 11 things about me. Here goes…

1. My favorite food right now is my Daddy’s homemade sweet potatoes. My Daddy puts a bit of brown sugar in them, carrots, and apples, and just a touch of pink salt. Mama says that they taste good enough for her to eat and that Daddy is a great cook.

2. I grab everything that is around me, and I am always looking for more things to do. My Daddy calls me “inquisitive,” whatever that means. All that I know is that the word “no” comes up a lot when I am being “inquisitive” and that Mama and Daddy run really fast to scoop me up every time that they say it.

3. I am tall for my age, in the 90th percentile, but my Mama and Daddy aren’t tall. If I keep growing this fast, I am going to pass them one day.

4. My current obsession is the mysterious “staircase.” Mama and Daddy both seem very worried about this and I have heard them say the words “baby gate” and “not for a long time.”

5. I touched the Pacific Ocean with my feet and hands, but I haven’t even been to the Atlantic Ocean yet, and I live on the east coast.

6. I can say “Mama,” “Mommy,” “Dada,” “Daddy,” “Hey,” and “Doggie” already, and there are many, many words inside my head. My Mama says that I am a genius. She is right.

7. I look just like my Daddy… like a little girl “twin.” I act like him, too, which means I am already a very funny little girl and very determined to do what I want to do.

8. I can drink out of a straw, but I can’t figure out how to stop drinking before I have way too much in my mouth, so I dribble.

9. I am almost always happy and laid back. Daddy says that I am a ray of sunshine. I sure hope that I’m not too shiny like the real sun, though, because it sure does hurt my eyes sometimes when we are going in the giant box with wheels called a car.

10. Everything that goes in my hand goes in my mouth within
14 seconds or less.

11. I fight sleep like a champion prizefighter— In fact, I am fighting sleep right now and am due for my afternoon nap.

Okay, the 11 answers to the questions given:

1. Are you addicted to something? If yes, What? Yes, green smoothies, grabbing at the kitties, and putting things in my mouth. I do all of these things every day and Mama says that addictions are things that you feel like you have to do every day… do they count?

2. What does money mean to you? Why? I had to ask Mama what money was since I didn’t know. Apparently almost everything in our house is here because of it, our lights are on because of it, and it “makes the world go ‘round.” What I think from what I hear is that life would be a lot easier without it, but Mama said that it was a bit tougher to change than to just make it go away.

3. What is your passion? What do you like to do the most apart from eating and sleeping? Seeing new things and finding out more about the world around me.

4. What quality of your best friend/friends do you admire? My Mama and Daddy are my best friends. I love that they always seem to have the energy to keep up with me and take care of me, even when their eyes get all glazy like I get when I am getting ready to fall asleep.

5. Have you ever felt guilty for doing something in life that keeps troubling you even now? I have not lived enough life yet to feel what people call “guilt.” Mama says everyone will eventually, but for me it will be a long time from now.

6. What is that one good thing that you can proudly say to anyone about yourself, I mean a lesson from your life that people can learn? Oh, I am a small person, a “baby,” so besides the fact that I live mostly for my own interests, I think that everyone could learn to look at the world like I do… after all, there is magic everywhere, and you big people don’t seem to see it.

7. Have you ever been in a relationship with someone? If yes, what did you learn/admire/hate about being in a relationship? I have relationships with all of my family, and there are a lot of them. I learn from them every single day, I admire them all for the amazing magic that they can do like cook food and move really fast where they need to do, and I don’t “hate” anything yet. Mama says I’m lucky on that last one.

8. Whom do you admire the most in your family? I can’t pick… I have too many family members that I admire and adore.

9. What kind of person are you (Funny/humorous/serious/shy…….) I am all of those things and more… although I am more funny than anything. I wear my heart on my sleeve as I have not learned to hide it yet, so I show all of my emotions every day.

10. If you were given a chance to go out on a dinner with
someone, who would that lucky one be? Mama says these
questions are hard for a little baby to answer because big
people would understand them better. I love going to eat
with Mama and Daddy because I love food more than almost
anything.

11. Which is your favorite post from your blog? If I would insist that you pick one out of the lot, Which one would that be? I
have enjoyed all of my posts, but if I had to pick one, it
would be my rewrite of “Annabel Lee.”
https://dorianshand.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/edgar-allen-poe-eat-your-heart-out-i-can-make-word-music-too/

Here are my own nominees:
1. Dandelion Fuzz. This blog is always fantastic to read, and you never, ever know what to expect.
http://katcarpita.wordpress.com
2. Momsasaurus: I love her blog because her family seems to like a lot of the same things that we do in our house. ☺ The Mama has a great sense of humor, too.
http://momsasaurus.wordpress.com
3. Our Rumbling Ocean. What a wonderful blog about family, adventures, and nature—my favorite things.
http://ourrumblingocean.wordpress.com
4. Blackbird Scraps. Fun with crafts and scrapbooks, things that my Mama loves, and beautiful pictures of the wee ones.
http://blackbirdscraps.wordpress.com
5. Nemo Alter. Gorgeous pictures and gorgeous words are found here.
http://nemoalter.wordpress.com

Coming up with questions is not hard for a little person like me—I have questions about everything all of the time. Here are my questions for you all that Mama and I are nominating:

1. What is your favorite thing about nature?
2. What do you still do to play? I sure hope that all of you still know how to play.
3. What family member changed your life the most?
4. What is your favorite food?
5. If you could go back to being a kid, what is the first thing that you would do?
6. What is your favorite book ever?
7. Where have you traveled?
8. Who is your favorite children’s character?
9. Who is your hero?
10. Who was the teacher that made the biggest difference in your life?
11. What is your favorite post from your blog?

Thank you to everyone who reads about my adventures, thank you for the nomination Regular Indian Girl, and thank you to the nominees that me and Mama picked for having such wonderful blogs to read. I hope that you enjoy your nomination and pass it on to others that you think have wonderful blogs, too. ☺

Xo,
Dorian

Everyone Can Be “Happy,” Even at the Doctor’s Office.

Mama took me to the “kid doctor” today. It is a long, long way down the road, but my Mama and Daddy say that Dr. Caldwell’s office is worth the long trip because they take really good care of me. I don’t mind… I just sing along with the music that Mama plays for me in our giant box with wheels and the time goes by pretty fast.

I love my doctor’s office. Mama says that big people don’t say this very much because their offices don’t have fun things to see, but mine definitely does. When you go through the front door, there are pictures all over all of the walls. Everywhere you look there are happy children and happy animals with trees and the sun. The paintings are beautiful, and I smile every time that I am carried through the door. I love television and there is one there, but I hardly even notice my hero Elmo because of all of the bright colors everywhere.

All of the little rooms where the doctor comes are like that too. Each room has a theme, and the one that I had today was a “farm.” It had a farmer, a henhouse, and a giant tree on the walls. Mama said that farms are where all of our vegetables and fruits come from and that it is her favorite room in the entire office because little farms are some of the best places on Earth.

Mama said that the person who did all of the pictures is named “Happy the Artist.” She told me that she met him a long time ago and that he really is a wonderfully happy person. I believe that because I think that what people make in pictures comes from their insides, and if they are happy it will show up in the pictures that they make. Happy must be one of the happiest people around because I feel warm and peaceful just by looking at what he has created, and Mama says that she always has and does, too. I think that I would like to meet him one day and give him a big hug. Mama says that he loves hugs, and although I don’t get the arms around people part yet, I can still snuggle up and hug in my own way.

Dr. Nyirenda, my doctor, came in and was so gentle and wonderful with me, and I heard her tell my Mama that I am growing well and that I am healthy. Silly Mama, I could have told her that if she had just paid a bit more attention. Although I was trying to grab that shiny thing that Dr. Nyirenda kept putting all over my back and belly that she called a “stethoscope,” I was also trying to touch all of those beautiful pictures the entire time and kept flipping over to get to the big tree behind me.

After my doctor left, my Mama let me touch the tree. I looked up at its bright leaves, and Mama said that the entire room was meant to remind you to treat other beings and nature with kindness. I will, little happy farmer person guarding the door, I will. Thank you, Happy, for making us beautiful pictures all over the place that we live.

For information on Happy the Artist, please visit his website at:
http://www.happytheartist.com
or visit his Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/happytheartist

Baby Haiku: Little Mini Songs

Today Mama told me what Haiku is and how it works. I love word rhythms, and each one that she told me had a set sound to it. She said that usually they are about nature and help to teach us to appreciate the simple beauty in our world, but I am sure that I can bend the rules a bit.

I bend rules all of the time, like yesterday when Mama walked away for just a second and her fruit smoothie was right in front of me, looking so inviting. I knew that Mama wouldn’t want me touching it and that it was hers, but I took it anyway. It spilled all over the floor and on my little pink walker and even on me, but I could stick my mouth on the glass and taste it. It made a wonderful echoing sound when I shouted “Mama, Dada, Mama, Dada” into it. I couldn’t help but shout I was so proud to have made something so big happen in the house.

My Mama was not quite as proud when she came running back, hearing the splashing sound and the sound of my voice sounding like a microphone. Daddy scooped me up to change me, but Mama went away and was in the living room for a long time. When I woke up from my nap my beautiful smoothie painting was all gone.

So now I am thinking about fruit paintings, haiku, and bending rules. I will try some to see if I can make them work. Mama says that there are always five sounds, then seven sounds, then five sounds. She called them “syllables,” but I have no idea how big words like that work yet.

Little Baby Haiku
By Dorian Annabel Dean

Big, red smoothie glass
Sitting on the table’s edge
Want to drink you now.

My little walker
Lets me see the world a bit
Grab at tree branches.

Oh my kitty cats
How you tease me when you run
One day you are mine.

Little puppy dog
Come lick my face and snuggle
I want to take a nap.

Why can’t I walk yet?
My legs, they work against me
They are like Jello.

Little pack and play
Don’t you keep me in a “cage”
I want sweet freedom.

Mama and Daddy
You are full and full of love
Snuggle with me now.

Why Can’t I See the Top of Those Trees?

We kept going past that bridge, although I didn’t really want to at first. Mama and Daddy told me that we were going to see some of the biggest trees that I would ever see. I didn’t really know what they were talking about since all trees are huge and I can only see the tops of the trees in the backyard if I tilt my neck just right. We were going to a place called Muir Woods, and Mama told me that it was one of the prettiest and most peaceful places that she had ever been. I think that the meaning of peace is curling up in Daddy’s arms, but once we walked into the woods, I felt what she meant. It was quiet… so quiet. Even though there were people all over the place, it was still and the air was cool against my skin. Even I, who am known to wave my arms and kick feet while squealing, couldn’t help but remain quiet taking all of it in. I couldn’t reach them. Not the top… any of them. They were too far, although I kept stretching for them. Mama was carrying me, though, and she found one close enough for me to touch. It was so moist and fuzzy, but it felt… like it had seen a lot of life. Mama whispered in my ear that they were very, very old and that many people had touched them that were no longer with us. I don’t really know what she meant, but I do know that I could feel that the tree that I was touching was here long, long before me or even Mama and Daddy, and that it would still be around when I was big like Mama.