Who are these little people? Princess

Princess is about to turn 5. She was the spotlight today in church. That meant she brought a bag filled with things that she loved for basically show and tell. (I helped.)

Princess loves the color pink. Her favorite toys are a pink dragon in a tutu ("Tutu") who protects her, a pink Pegasus ("Rainbow Pony"), a pink monkey, and her baby dolls ("Baby Jane", "Lavinia", and "Jane". PS Jane is a boy, but Baby Jane is a girl. They all wear pink.). She also likes to play with My Little Ponies, though they are not all pink.

Princess loves to watch TV shows. Her favorites rotate between Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Dora the Explorer, Super Why, Umizoomi, and Pinky Dinky Doo whenever Amazon brings it back. Blues Clues and Little Bear are making a comeback. She dresses up as a pirate and play at being Jake. She also plays hide and seek with passion.

She loves to be read to and every night when we tuck her in, she has her favorite pink plushes and at least 5 books to look through while she nods off. Her current favorite Sunday dress is pink with black lace Hello Kitties on it. She also likes flowery dresses. We think she is totally adorable in blue.




Princess has a rich and robust set of imaginary friends. All the characters from Jake (especially Captain Hook) make regular appearances. Almost anyone else we visit or talk about has an imaginary version as well, including imaginary Daddy and Mommy. She is even triplets with two, twin imaginary selves. There are three girls she loves the most: her cousin A in California, her friend in Granbury B, and her friend at gymnastics H. That of course is not counting her babysitters, who she loves with all her little heart.

Princess loves to color and paint. This semester she has taken gymnastics lessons once a week which she consistently looks forward to. She regularly picks flowers for me and if there are no flowers around, she'll pick leaves to give me as a present. She is the child most likely to talk about Star Wars with me.

Princess picks at her food one tiny bite at a time. Her favorite thing is to share her food with someone she loves or receive a bite of their food. Her favorite food is whatever is on someone else's plate. Independently, she asks for ramen noodles and quesadillas, lollipops, marshmallows, and granola bars. She likes pancakes, waffles, and aebelskivers - all with butter and powdered sugar. Butter is definitely a favorite topping. When she and I go out for a Daddy/daughter date, she wants to go out for ice cream. She and Joy will clean off a pound of strawberries in one meal.

Princess thinks tea parties are the single greatest thing in the world, with brownies and Crystal Light for the tea. For her birthday last year Grammy got her a birthday card with a smiling tea set on it and some money. She wanted to use the money to get a tea set just like it. When the pink plastic tea set we got her didn't have smiley faces, she asked her dear old Dad to draw them on. She has been very patient with me getting around to it, but has been pleased with the results.

It is exceptionally important to Princess that she is always herself. Even when she is pretending to be a kitten or a princess or Jake, it is essential that we call her a pretend cat or a pretend Jake. She is still just her name. And only her name. She only likes her name (or Princess, which is why we use it here). I asked her why, and she explained it's because she just wants to be herself. Good for her.

For all her energy and boundless spirit - running, screaming, and crashing into furniture at full speed - Princess has a very tender heart that wants to be protected and feel safe. Snuggles and soft hugs are the best. She loves being wrapped up in a towel likes a burrito and held.