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| Jennie giving hugs to her three favorite furry pals |
Jennie has developed an obsession: Dogs. She LOVES "daw-ees" and can't get enough. When we are out for a stroll, she can spot a pooch about a mile away. Her face lights up, and she yells, "Daw-ee, Daw-ee, WOOF WOOF!" and points towards the unsuspecting dog. And if she sees one at the playground, then her day is made. Not only does she usually get to pat the nice doggies, she is also at her favorite place - the playground! Jennie is super into climbing, and the tunnels, and slides. In fact, if we pass a playground and we don't stop, she usually has something to say about it.
The Easter Bunny, of course, knew that Jennie's love affair with doggies was growing, and so he created a doggie themed basket for her. It was filled with multiple doggie books and a new stuffed doggie. Unfortunately, we can't have pets in our apartment. It breaks our hearts to see how much she loves them and we can't have one right now. I would have much preferred to put a little puppy in a giant plastic egg for Jennie to open on Easter morning... wait, is that cruelty to animals?
Seeing Jennie "reading" her doggie books is so cute. The Easter Bunny found one that was PERFECT - it has all photos of real dogs with touch-and-feel and pull tabs that make the tails wag and all that. Matthew Van Fleet is the author - some of you Moms out there might know of his other famous books called "Heads" and "Tails." She loves it - dog photos on every page.
She loves to read other books as well. Jennie will sit in her nursery by herself and "read" her books for twenty minutes at a time. She knows all of her books that have at least one picture of a dog in it - and she knows exactly where to find them! She also loves finding pictures in her books that she knows the name. I'll be washing dishes and hear Jennie yelling from the nursery, "Mama!! Nana!!!!!" when she finds the page of bananas in her counting book, or "Neigh!! Neigh!" for any horse she finds. My personal favorite is that she knows all the pages of "Moo, Baa, La La La" and if asked what three singing pigs say, she responds with "Lalalalalalala." |
| Outside St. Pat's (it was very sunny!) |
After Jennie "found" and opened up her Easter basket, we had a wonderful day. It started with Jennie eating the chocolate munchkins that the Easter Bunny put in her plastic eggs. Jennie was beyond thrilled when she popped open eggs and found such treasures! She calls them "dough-doughs" and it is incredibly adorable. After breakfast, we donned our Easter best and went to church. Then we headed to her Auntie Lauren's house for dinner with the family. Jennie had a blast playing with all the kids, and chasing around Lauren and Greg's dog, Tessie (of course). It was a really nice holiday, and Jennie seemed to have fun. We are excited for next year when she can hunt for eggs and have an idea of the Easter Bunny coming and all that. Of course, eventually I will have to figure out how to explain how Jesus's resurrection and a giant bunny that hands out eggs and candy are connected - any one have a good answer for that?
Jennie's obsession with dogs is very cute, and amazing. She has never had a dog of her own, and hasn't had all that much contact with them. The fascinating thing to me is that she can recognize ALL types of dogs in a book or in person - no matter the size, shape, color, or breed. And she knows that other animals she sees are not dogs. Her seemingly innate passion makes her very focused - nothing short of a miracle for Little Miss Busy Body. I have heard of preschoolers and older kids becoming obsessed with a certain things like dogs, or trucks, or dinosaurs, or princesses - but I never thought a 16 month old would do it, too. She clearly must have a high IQ or something. ;) I also didn't realize how cute it would be... although it might not be so cute once she can say, "Mommy, I want a dog" a thousand times a day. For now, I can't get over how big her smile is when she sees her plush doggie toys and gives them hugs and kisses, or how her whole body wiggles in excitement when she sees "the real thing." Witnessing the simple things that make a child so gloriously happy can really bring joy to anyone's life. Oh, to be a kid again! |
| Do you want one? |
