My Life is a Dora Episode

Taking full advantage of some downtime at work Wednesday, I took the day off and Erik and I took Lillian to the Discovery Gateway children's museum in Salt Lake. Apart from at least four separate freak-outs (which admittedly were partly our fault since she was running on no nap and ice cream), we had a nice day. Lily was completely enthralled with all aspects of the museum and jumped head first into the activities. Her OCD proved very helpful while playing in the grocery store, where she showed her aptitude for restocking shelves. And the girl LOVES puzzles. I may have to go buy some more because we sat and did the same puzzle for at least half an hour. Much better use of time than the tv.

Which brings me to the next segment of our story.


About five minutes after the train pulled out of Salt Lake, Lily was zonked on Erik's lap and slept the entire 45 minutes to Roy. Since it was only about 6:00, we didn't want to transfer her to the car sleeping and just head home because we knew she'd just stay asleep and we'd be awakened around 2 in the morning by a playful toddler. Not fun. Instead, we decided to stop at Erik's parents and spend a little time so that when she fell asleep on the way home, we'd be in for a normal night's sleep.

The problem was, she NEVER FELL ASLEEP!! It's rare for Lily to stay awake for the entire hour it takes to drive from Roy to Logan, especially in the late evening. (She takes after me that way. ;-)) But she gabbed the entire way home about paths and spiders and mountains and polar bears and Swiper that Sneaky Fox and "I need your help guys..." Basically, she took us through an entire Dora the Explorer episode. And this wasn't the first time. She's always asking me which path we need to take or telling us to scare the spiders/snakes/etc. away. And believe me: we had some stubborn snakes that night. Not to mention that Swiper makes at least one appearance per car ride trying to steal treats or purses or babies or even the car.

Listening to this, you would think the kid does nothing but watch tv. But trust me: We're not the completely awful parents you think we are. The kid can watch an episode once and recite almost every line. It doesn't hurt that they're all pretty much the same story with just a few names changed, I'm sure. But I'm absolutely amazed at what she picks up and remembers.

Near the end of the ride, she was getting pretty loopy from sleep deprivation and was absolutely cracking herself up by singing the wrong words to Row, Row, Row Your Boat. The giggles resounding from the backseat we just hilarious and definitely contagious. Each time she'd start singing, she'd start laughing sooner. Pretty soon, all she could get out was the first line before the laughter started. It was the funnest thing to listen to! No one can deny the kid's got a personality all her own.