My Ashlee

I love having a daughter. It has given me the chance to take a peek into what I might have been like growing up. Ashlee has such a great little personality and there are so many things I love about her. She's very sensitive to other people's feelings (and animals, too). The other day, I came downstairs and found her in the laundry room with Frankie. She had decided that he was bored and quickly provided him with entertainment and toys.


In this picture, she has put out her VideoNow player (in case Frankie wanted to watch a movie) and a rubber chicken and a toy helicopter, in case he'd like some toys to play with. It's all neatly placed on top of his dog chow bag for added convenience.


Here she has provided the poor bored puppy (who is supposed to be spending his time eating breakfast) with a very chic silver ribbon around his neck, a bouncy ball, and a tupperware lid full of an assortment of toys. One of the toys in the lid is a tiny little plastic armchair. Ashlee explained that Frankie needed some furniture to sit on.


She was very pleased with herself. And Frankie enjoyed the pampering (I think.) I love this sweet, adorable, kind, loving, dimpled little girl.

Parents Say the Darndest Things

A couple of nights ago, Ashlee was running around the living room on all fours. By 'all fours' I mean on both hands and both feet (not knees). She'll do this kind of thing often, especially if she is pretending to be some sort of animal, usually a dog. Well, this particular evening, we were all watching a movie together. Ashlee took off at full speed in her little animal way and decided that she wanted the light off. We kept telling her to turn it back on, but then she would turn it off again and laugh like we were playing a game. I kept telling her that she was a naughty monkey (especially since she looked so much like one.) As she ran back and forth, I would say, "OK, cheeky monkey, that's enough. Leave the light on please." After many episodes of turning off the light, I was starting to lose my patience. So I said, "I'm going to count to three and then I'm going to have to spank the . . ." I realized what I was saying just before I said "monkey."