One of Little Bear’s favorite books, for years now, has been the Michael Rosen and Helen Oxbury version of “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.” We apparently read it to her a lot because this is what I heard in the car the other day…
This weekend brought another parade and a trip to the milk carton boat races. Weather on Saturday (as per usual) was touch-and-go at first but there was no rain and a great time was had by all. Little Bear’s best friends joined us and we managed to keep track of all three girls among the thousands of people, bands, horses, and floats. Everyone got a bit tired and cranky by the end so we packed up before the bagpipes went by (much to Papa’s dismay) but we avoided any total meltdowns. Little Bear’s favorite this year was the marching bands. Papa is convinced she’ll play drums when she’s older!
Lately, well, for the past year and a half, Little Bear has been really into playing with little people and animals. I have it on good authority that I was very similar at this age so maybe that’s why I find her play now to be so cute. Because of this, she has collected herself quite an array of doll and animal houses. Mine from when I was little, a Calico Critters manor, a cardboard beach house… the list goes on. In preparing for our summer downsizing, we’ve been trying to figure out how we can get this neighborhood down to just a few living spaces. What does she like about each house? How does she play with each of them? What aspects do we, as parents, like? And of course, the very important question: How does the size of each house fit with the scale of all of the little animals and people that we have amassed?
While at Learning Palace the other day (a dangerous place to take your two year old and, as it turns out, your husband) we saw a really cool Melissa and Doug castle. It came in a “Princess” option and a “Medieval” option. Papa and Little Bear both liked the former but I get more votes than they do, so the Medieval castle it was.
And holy cow, did we pick right. I am the first to admit when we buy a toy that flops (Stride-To-Ride Dino, anyone?) but this has been a total hit. Not only did it stop the tears at Grandma and Grandpa’s this afternoon, but she bypassed Papa to play with it once she got home. And papa has pretty much been at the top of her list lately. Anyway, true to form, the castle was shared by many friends: My Little Pony, Tangled dolls, Calico Critters, Playmobil princesses, a large stuffed dog, a plastic bear, and what I’m pretty sure is a Little People air traffic controller (though you could convince me otherwise). The bear attacked the princess (who was in the bathtub), the elephant mama carried the mouse baby up and down the stairs several times, Flynn Rider spent his time falling into the dungeon, and there was constant inter-species bedsharing.
So what is to become of the rest of the dwellings? I think we might put the Calico Critter house on the market. It’s spacious and the correct scale, but it doesn’t have a trapdoor. And everyone knows you need a trapdoor.
“Little Bear, what’s your pony’s name?”
”Nothing. It’s just a pony.”
“I have a great idea!”
”What?”
”Papa and Little Bear go pick out a donut!”
“Do you want to go to the park?”
”Of course!”
“Who is the boss, mama or papa?”
”Little Bear!”
She kills me.
With another, even littler bear, on the way, we’ve been talking about moving Little Bear into her own room. We’ll keep the nursery the way it is and let her, I mean me, have fun decorating something from scratch. It clearly hasn’t happened yet, though, so in the meantime, her nursery is growing with her. Here are some recent pictures.
Now that little bear is potty trained, we finally got rid of the changing pad. Good thing because whoever thought it was a good idea to get a cream colored cover was an idiot (that would be me). So now her dirty clothes go up there. Socks and medicine/nail clippers, etc are stored above, along with a few diaper things that I haven’t moved elsewhere yet. The uggggly (and uncomfortable) glider is still there but I’m hoping that someone gets me a new one for baby #2.
For the closet in her big girl room, I’m thinking we’ll do one low shelf on the bottom, high enough for one of those bins. Then a bar or two all the way across, with the bottom one at least being kid height. Then maybe more shelves up high, out of her reach. I really like not having doors on the closet but as you can see, I still haven’t hemmed the curtains. That’s what summer is for, right. Some toy storage is on the shelves to the right but it’s kind of half hearted.
And then, of course, the big girl bed. She loves it and has slept all the way through almost every night since we got it. The alphabet cards are getting a little worse for the wear. This summer, once she moves out, I think I’m going to Mod Podge them onto balsa wood. I also need more on that wall but it doesn’t look so bad with the crib there. The shelf by the bed is a recent addition that I’m not sold on but, again, we’re repurposing things.
And that’s it for tonight. :)
Little Bear had a total meltdown tonight because she couldn’t pick a pair of jammies. This is extra entertaining because she sleeps very hot and generally wears just a diaper or a diaper and a t-shirt. Anyway, she couldn’t choose between a short sleeved Elmo t-shirt and a long-sleeved zebra pajama top. Every time she’d make up her mind, and we’d put one on, she’d collapse in tears because she wanted the other one. Oh boy. Drama drama drama. Finally, we settled for the zebra top on the bottom with the Elmo shirt over it. Then she saw the zebra pants and those had to go on. So now she will wake up at 2am totally overheated. But hey, at least she got to assert her independence.
Remind me of that when I’m exhausted tomorrow morning.
Happy birthday to my sweet, confident, adventurous, funny little girl. You are growing up so fast. I can’t believe you’re already two! Somehow, though I feel like I say this every year, you seem especially grown up now. You are walking, talking, going to the potty like a big girl, and generally making your opinions and ideas known to everyone around you. You love being outside and playing with your family and your kitties. You mostly love laughing. I am so blessed to be a part of your life and I can’t wait to see what this next year brings!
