Today was the Day

I took Fuss out to Wal-Mart (or Hell-Mart, however you choose to see it) this evening to pick out her new bedding. She is in her toddler bed now, so she gets to make the "big girl" decision of how she wants her room decorated! I put her in the buggy (shopping cart for those non-hillbillies) and wheel her over to the shelf of sheets.

She immediately points to Dora and yells loud enough for the rest of the store to hear, "DORA!!!!"

Then I tell her, "You can pick out your sheets for your bed, for 'Fuss's' bed. Which ones do you want? You can pick one: Fairies, Princess, Dora, or Minnie." I pointed at each one in turn. This is met with a very intense look and a "Hmmm." She studies them carefully. I see her look at Minnie, but her attention doesn't stay there long. She looks at the Disney Fairies. Same story. It's all down to the Disney Princesses or Dora.

She looks at me, pointing, and asks, "Princess?"

My reply? "If you want Princess on your bed, you can get it. It's going on YOUR BED. So, are you sure you want Princess? You pick."

She stands there another few minutes. I can see her thinking this over and looking from one to the other, back and forth. "Dora?" she says.

"If that's what you want, you can have it. You pick one: Dora or Princess."

"DORA!" she yells, not quite so loud this time, as she points to the Dora sheets.

"Are you sure?" I ask her. She responds with a smile and a nod and repeats Dora. "Okay, we'll get Dora!"

Yes, I actually had the above conversation with my not-yet-2-year-old. She had actually picked the Dora set out online before we went to Wal-Mart and HUGGED my laptop going "Awwww, Dora!" the second she saw it. Do I believe she understood everything I said to her? Not quite everything, but it was enough that she knew she could choose for herself. I admit, it was really interesting watching her make the decision when she could see the prints right there in front of her. Online, she could have cared less about the princesses. In real life, it was a completely different matter! Not to mention, as we walked through the rest of the store, she would point to Disney Princesses and go "Princess!" just as often as she would point to Dora. Apparently, this was a really difficult decision! In another couple years we will probably be changing her room to princess stuff from Dora, but for now she's happy (and hugged her sheets on the way out of the store) and that's all that really matters.

**And, in case you were wondering, last night Fuss slept in her toddler bed all night! She didn't wake up at all until almost 9:30 this morning. Of course, the second she woke up today, I heard "Mommy" and the patter of little feet running to the door. Her door was not latched, so she opened it and ran to her kitchen to play. Nap time wasn't quite so easy, though. She got up twice before I finally rocked her to sleep and placed her in the bed.