Dora The Explorer - An Answer To Prayer

This is a couple of months over due, but here it is.

Ava is known to be what we will call "grumpy" sometimes. If you know her you know exactly what I am talking about. So sweet and so funny, but also has moments of real grumpiness, meanness, rudeness, orneriness, whatever you want to call it. She is known in our ward for her scowl. She also is clingy to me. She is pretty nervous of most things that are new or involve too many people. She is happiest when it is just us at home. She has been so clingy that she is never more than about 10 feet away from me at all times. She even still waited for me outside the shower door while I showered. Until Dora that is.

I prayed for Dora. Real, sincere prayers. When Zachary got to a few months old I needed something to entertain Ava so that I could go shower without her coming upstairs and waking him up. Or so that I could nurse Zach without her coming to distract him. I just needed her to watch a 30 minute show. Dora The Explorer was the answer. It was and is THE ONLY thing that draws her attention. Hallelujah!

Ava fell so in love with Dora The Explorer that it also helped her give up her "chupa". She was only allowed to have her chupa at night, but it still definitely felt like she was too old for it. We were just so scared to take it away. Well, one day Ava saw the Dora backpack. She said she wanted to send her chupa to the chupa fairy so that the chupa fairy would bring her the backpack. And lo and behold, that is exactly what happened. With no problem at all.

The next day we wrote the note to the chupa fairy that Ava was a big girl and was ready to give up her chupa. We wrapped up the chupa and put it in the mailbox. Later that day there was a knock at the door and as Ava says, "The chupa fairy bring me my Dora backpack and fly away so quick."
Ava has been one happy girl with this backpack. It sings (you know the backpack song) and has a compass, map, telescope and video camera. She's been carting this backpack with her everywhere. I took her on a run the next morning and backpack had it's own seat in the stroller.
In the end, we have a happy Ava and backpack with no chupa and a pleased mom that Ava will watch a show and not wake up her sleeping brother. Yahoo! Thank you Dora The Explorer!