Our Little Dora

Ava has quite a developing imagination. I realize this probably won't mean much to anyone that hasn't seen the show Dora the Explorer, but Ava has taken to pretending everyone in our family is a character from that show. She, of course, is the star Dora. Nate is Boots the monkey (best friend and sidekick of Dora), and I am Swiper the Fox. Swiper appears at least once in every show to try to take something away from our heroine and her dear monkey, but is repelled by the phrase "Swiper, no swiping!"...to which he replies "oh man!" We've been playing this for days now and today Cody got a part. He is the backpack. Now that might not sound very exciting, but Dora's backpack is an integral part of the show. It talks, sings, provides whatever she needs, and stores the stars they catch along their adventure. Pretty good for an inanimate object. In fact, it may even be a step up from the fox (dirty rotten thief!) Ava...ur-um, DORA likes for me to talk to her and Na..I mean, BOOTS, as if we were in an episode, which will involve some attempted swiping on my part. This play-acting can come in handy though, I must admit. Ava didn't want to come to the table for dinner tonight. But, when I started calling for Dora, she came running with a smile on her face. Yeah, I know, I took the easy way out. But, who doesn't like a little game of pretend every now and then?