Doggie Princess

After a day up at the cabin last weekend where she got to play with "big girls" (ages 6-8), Annie has become enamored with playing pretend.

"Say I'm a doggie that got very hurt on my leg and needed to go to the hospital and you are my owner and you carried me to the hospital and I was crying and you couldn't get me to stop and I needed a bandage and the doctor wrapped my leg up and it was bleeding very, very bad. Okay mom?"

Or:

"Mom, I'm a princess and you're the queen and Daddy is the king and Riley is the little brother and I was going to dance for my cousins Sierra, Ally and Val-Val and Aunt Serena and Uncle Marc. Oh! Where's my beautiful dancing dress? (She soon emerges in her black and red spider dress that I got at the 25 cent sale a couple weeks ago - apparantly the "beautiful dancing dress" she was referring to. And by the way it's on backwards, and the edge of the skirt is tucked into her undies.) And I was dancing and then I got hurt on my leg and needed to go to the hospital... (same story, see above). Okay mom?"

And the really interesting pretend scenarios are when she starts out as a princess and then decides to turn into a doggie, or other way around. I don't so much mind playing princess with her but I'm not thrilled about pretending to be a dog. Fortunately, that's where Riley comes in. He loves to play doggie. Because doggies bite.

Annie, however, doesn't really like to play pretend with Riley because he won't put on any costumes. And he won't lay in the beds she makes for him and he won't be quiet when her babies are going to sleep (in fact, he likes to squeal and rip blankets off and yell peekaboo!) and he won't just be content with the blue cup and plate that she gives him at her pretend picnic. And he especially won't just be content with the plastic carrot and egg she serves him but insists on grabbing the plastic brownie, cookie, and BOTH doughnuts off of her plate!

It's tough. Sometimes she has to pretend to be a monster and scare him away. Lately, she's resorted to "swipping" - a word she came up with herself which perfectly describes the sweeping push or kick (it can be done with either a hand or a foot) that she uses to protect herself or her things from any perceived attack. Unfortunately, the day is fast approaching when Riley will outweigh her and no amount of swipping will be able to deter him.

Thankfully, summer is finally here and we can do lots of things outside that don't necessarily require pretending. Here are some of her favorites:

Cheese Puff & juice picnic

On her new bike

Playing in the sandbox Benjy built

Learning to ride a scooter!

The beginning of a pretend picnic
(no swipping has occured yet)

New favorite thing to do at the cabin:
motorcycle rides up the hill and back