Gillian's favorite princess is Cinderella. She has loved her since she first watched the cartoon movie a few years ago. I captured one of my favorite pictures of Gillian experiencing the magic of Cinderella.
When we were in Disney last year, she got to meet Cinderella. As a Mom, it was amazing to watch her interact with a real princess.
I knew that Gillian would love to see the new Cinderella movie. I was a little nervous because it wasn't a cartoon. We decided to go Saturday. Gillian dressed in her Cinderella dress and gold shoes. The shoes. Let me take a minute and talk about the shoes. I was going to have her wear sneakers. But she insisted on her gold shoes. "I don't have Cinderella shoes. I need my fancy gold shoes!"
Gillian and I met Aunt Betty and Grandma at the theater. They insisted on seeing her outfit right away. Gillian took off her dress and twirled. They oohed and aahed. Gillian decided "I want popcorn!" On our way to the concession stand, she lost a shoe. The timing was perfect. An employee of the theater saw Gillian dressed as Cinderella and that she lost a shoe too and broke into a smile. We got our snacks and headed to the theater.
We were almost done with the previews when Gillian announced "I gotta go potty!" I knew there was going to be a new Frozen short before the movie started so I picked her up and ran to the bathroom. She did her business and we ran back. We made it just in time for the short to start. Whew! Gillian loved it. And then the movie started.
The movie was great. It was probably a half hour too long for Gillian, but she enjoyed it all the same. I am glad I got to enjoy it with her, Grandma and Aunt Betty. Just the girls.
We went to see Disney on Ice, Princesses and Heroes last weekend. I have never been and we have never taken the kids to see a show like this, so needless to say I was very excited. We told Gillian that she could wear one of her princess dresses. She said "Ok. I'll wear my new gold dress." She was referring to her Christmas dress. After we explained that she could wear one of her dress-up dresses, she proudly said "Elsa. I wear my Elsa dress." I was excited about that, because then she could wear her Elsa hat that Grandma made her for Christmas. Plus I was able to wear the Anna hat!
We arrived at the Prudential Center and found our seats. We got there a few minutes late and Aladdin was already skating. John was happy to see Aladdin and Gillian as super excited to see Jasmine. Basically, the actors would sing and dance on skates and perform a short version of their story.
Next up was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
In between the stories, Tinkerbell would skate around the ice and sometimes we would see Mickey and Minnie Mouse. They would help introduce the next Princess.
The next Princess was Belle. Gillian was very excited by this point. She was jumping up and down. She saw Lumiere and leaned over to me and said "Him's got feet!" Poor dude had to skate around in that big costume and Gillian called him out within 30 seconds.
After Belle, we got to see Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. Next, we got to see the Little Mermaid. John really liked this part of the show. The first part was the sailors on Prince Eric's boat. They did fun tricks on their skates.
So they showed the whole part where Ariel gives up her voice for human legs. Gillian, very loudly, said "But her's already got legs. See? Right there!"
After Ariel and Prince Eric were married, we had a short intermission and then got to see Tiana. Next was Sleeping Beauty. Sleeping Beauty is my favorite fairy tale. Gillian was a little afraid of the dragon.
After Sleeping Beauty, Goofy came out and announced the arrival of Cinderella.
Cinderella's step sisters were hilarious and Gillian really loved Cinderella's carriage.
Mickey and Minnie came out all dressed in very fancy clothes and announced that the next princess was Anna!
All the kids in the arena were singing along. It was adorable.
Olaf got to sing his song, Summer. This is John's favorite and he sang along as well.
Tinkerbell came out after Frozen was completed and then all the Princesses and Heroes came on the ice. Along with Mickey and Minnie.
The kids loved this part. Tinkerbell sat in Cinderella's carriage and it rose up in the air and "Fireworks went off!"
We had a great time with our favorite Princess and Hero.
For those who don't know, Elsa is one of the princesses from the movie Frozen. Frozen merchandise is very hard to find. I was lucky and found a plush Elsa for Gillian's birthday. Gillian loves her Elsa doll. Today Daddy picked up Gillian from school, he went inside and got all of her stuff and then went back outside to get Gillian from the playground. She came running to him. He handed her the Elsa doll. She then called all of her friends over. All the girls were excited to see the doll. Gillian said "I hold it up so everyone could see." And she held the doll up over her head. The girls all had something to say about the doll. Dorlisa said "I like her slippers!" I wasn't there, but I envision it much like this:
Gillian loved meeting the princesses in Disney World. I know what you are thinking, we haven't been in Disney World in almost two months, but Gillian was just talking about the princesses the other day. So I figured I would write a little post about Gillian meeting all of her favorites.
The first characters we met were Pluto and Minnie Mouse. Gillian was VERY afraid of them. I'm not sure if it was the awe of meeting them or because it was early in the morning or just by their sheer size. Anyway, she was afraid of them, and didn't want to go near them. The next characters we met were Chip and Dale. They were awesome. They took the time to interact with Gillian and she lost her shyness. But our very first princess we met was Belle. We went on the Enchanted Tales with Belle attraction. Gillian got to dance with Belle and have her picture taken.
Later that night, we went back to the Magic Kingdom to see a parade and the fireworks. We didn't end up seeing the parade. We ended up going on a few rides and we got to meet Ariel! Ariel was super nice, even though Gillian was super tired and cranky. She loved Gillian's autograph book and kept saying that she was happy that Gillian picked a page that matched the color of her tail! Unfortunately, the pictures we took with Ariel didn't make it on my PhotoPass, but I did get one quick shot on my cell. It's proof that we met Ariel!
The next day we spent in Animal Kingdom. Unfortunately, we didn't meet any princesses there. But the following day we went to Hollywood Studios. In Hollywood Studios, we met Princess Sofia! Sofia the First is one of Disney's newest princesses and Gillian loves watching her show (so does John). Gillian waited patiently for her turn to meet the princess. John, on the other hand, was not so happy. He kept saying "Do I have to meet her? I don't even like the show!" But he still asked Sofia for an autograph and posed for pictures.
The next day we went back to the Magic Kingdom. Daddy scheduled a fast pass so that we could meet Cinderella and a visiting princess. Gillian loves "Rella" and was happy to see that the visiting princess that day was Sleeping Beauty. We first met Cinderella. Gillian was a little shy at first, but Cinderella showed Gillian her beautiful blue shoes. And Gillian showed Cinderella her t-shirt. Gillian happened to be wearing her Cinderella shirt that day. They talked about Cinderella's mice and Gillian told her "I like Gus-Gus." I will admit it, I got a little teary eyed watching my little girl talk with her favorite princess.
After meeting Cinderella, we met Sleeping Beauty. We really got lucky. Sleeping Beauty is another one of Gillian's favorite princesses. Even to this day, Gillian says "Her was wearing pink. The red fairy make her dress pink. But the blue fairy want it blue!"
After the Magic Kingdom, we went to Epcot. In Epcot, we saw Snow White. Daddy and I think that Snow White was headed for a break, but when she saw Gillian and a few other girls, she stopped to take some pictures with them.
In Epcot, we also got to meet Belle again! Belle was super nice and loved Gillian's autograph book. If you listen carefully to the video below, you will hear her compliment Aunt Missy on making such a nice book.
As you can tell, by this point in our visit Gillian is very comfortable meeting a princess and talking to her. She loved meeting Belle again. Now she says "I meet Belle in her beautiful dress and again in her blue dress!"
We did try to meet Jasmine while we were in Epcot, but the timing just didn't work out. I think that Gillian had a wonderful time meeting all of her favorite princesses in person!
Gillian loves Sofia the First. It's a show on Disney Junior about a princess. Sofia wears a special amulet that helps her talk to animals. Yesterday, I picked up the kids from school. Gillian had her stuffed bunny Clover. Clover is one of Sofia's best friends. Gillian told John "I need my amulet. I can't hear Clover!" All through dinner, Gillian kept telling us "I need to find my amulet!" After we ate dinner, John worked on his homework while Gillian went to find her amulet. I even helped. But we couldn't find it anywhere. John helped us but we still couldn't find it. Finally, I searched in the cushions of the couch and there it was. Gillian was so excited. I put on her amulet. She got all sad and said "My amulet isn't working! I can't hear Clover!" John said "Let me try." He took off her amulet and put it on. He held Clover and said "Oh. Ok." He smiled and said to Gillian, "You need to hold him close to your ear. Try it now." He gave Gillian back her necklace and Clover. She held Clover to her ear and she said to us "My amulet is working now!"
I found Gillian at school tonight sitting at a table coloring. She looked up at me and said "I coloring a picture!" I said "That's great but we have to go get John." She said "Ok. I gotta finish it." She colored a little more and then handed me a crayon and said "Write my name." As we were leaving her classroom, she described her picture to me "It's Beauty and the Beast!"
In the car she continued to tell me about her picture. "It's got all the princesses. Cinderella. Ariel. Who's Ariel?" I told her that Ariel was the little mermaid. She said "Oh. And her boy! Her boy has a dog." I said "Her prince is Prince Eric." Gillian pointed at her picture and then said "He's over here with his dog." I asked her who else was in the picture. She said "Jasmine. Sofia and her mommy. And her daddy and James and Amber." I said "Is Sleeping Beauty in your picture?" Silly Gilly asked "Who's that?" I reminded her that Sleeping Beauty was the princess that the fairies kept trying to change the color of her dress. She remembered and said "Yes. Her is over there in her pink dress!" I love that she saw all of these princesses in her little drawing.
She carried her picture into John's school. All the Time+ teachers complimented her on her beautiful art work. Gillian was super excited to show John. John took one look at it and said "Nice job Gill." Then he turned to me and whispered "Does she know it's just scribbles?" I told him that Gillian drew a picture of all the princesses. He just shrugged his shoulders and put on his coat. Sometimes he has no imagination.
Last week, Gillian and I watched Tangled for the first time. We loved it. She unfortunately has a hard time remembering Rapunzel's name. So she constantly asks me "Who's the girl in the purple dress?"
Tonight, I was tucking her into bed, and she asked me to snuggle with her for a few minutes. As we were snuggling she asked "Who's the girl in the purple dress?" I said "Rapunzel." She said "She was a baby and a witch took her. She make her hair magic. And the girl growed up and her hair got long and long and long! When she sings the hair glows! And then a boy comes. Him cut her hair with a part of a mirror! And then the witch's hair goes all white. And her a witch again. Her is not the mom! Then the girl gets to stay with the boy!" I love her little synopsis of the movie.
I was talking to Gillian tonight. I asked her if she knew who was coming to school tomorrow. She said "You?" I wish I was going to visit her school tomorrow, but I told her no. And then I told her that the penguins were coming to visit. Every year, TLC has the penguins from the Jenkinson's aquarium come visit the school. Check out my first post about John and the Penguins. It's amazing to see how much they have grown in the past two years!
Anyway, I told Gillian that the penguins were coming to visit school. She smiled and told me "I'm going to hug them! But I not going to kiss them!" I asked her why she wasn't going to kiss the penguins. She told me "Then they turn to frogs!"
John was reading Daddy a book first thing this morning. After they were done reading, John came downstairs to see me. While Daddy went into Gillian's room to snuggle. I was in the living room and could hear that they were having a conversation. After a little while, Gillian came downstairs gave me a hug and a kiss and ran away. I asked Daddy what they were talking about. He said he was snuggling with Gillian in her bed. And commented saying "I love this princess room." Gillian said "It's a super hero room. Not princess!" Daddy was a little surprised by her answer, but went with it. He asked "Who is your favorite super hero?" She said "Wanda!" Again, he was taken back by her comment. And said "You mean the Scarlet Witch?" She said "Her friends call her Scarlet Witch, but her Wanda!"
I had to run a few errands today and before I left the house, I asked the kids if they wanted to go with me. John said "No!" Gillian said "Yes! I go shopping!"
One of our stops was a craft store. We were looking for princess toppers for Gillian's birthday cupcakes. Gillian kept stopping and picking up random things saying "Mommy! We need this!" Or "Mommy! Look flowers!" We didn't find toppers in that store, but we did get a few things for her goodie bags.
Our next stop was the food store. When I parked the car, Gillian said "I'm tired." This was her way of telling me that she wanted to sit in a shopping cart. I loaded her into the cart and as I pushed her into the store she yells "This da food store?!" I was not the only one that heard her, because as we walked thru the produce section one of the employees stopped to say hello to both of us. Gillian conned me into buying bananas and donuts. She had to hold them on her lap. When I tried to hand her something else, she told me "I not a octopus!" A fellow shopper heard Gillian say this and laughed and stopped to say hello to Gillian. As we went thru the dairy section, Gillian told everyone around us "We need yogurt!" And then proceeded to argue with me when I told her we didn't need yogurt (she got the yogurt). I can't remember what she said in the meat section, but she made another shopper laugh and laugh. We got to the register and she told me "Mommy, put get everything out of the cart!"
We went home. Gillian had a little snack. She started with a yogurt. We called John upstairs for a snack. I told him that Gillian was eating yogurt. Gillian added her two sense "It's really good!" They ate their snack and we headed back out to do more errands.
In the party store, she had to touch every princess thing in the store. In Target she arranged everything in the cart. Twice. In Costco, she held my membership card and proudly handed it to the cashier.
In the car about two miles from home, she fell asleep. She was exhausted. A full day of shopping was too much for my little lady. I am thankful. She made my errands an adventure.
I made chicken tonight. Some of the pan drippings hit the bottom of the oven and the kitchen quickly filled with smoke. It also set off the smoke alarm. I had Daddy help with the smoke alarms while I called the kids for dinner. John came upstairs, waving his hand in front of his face and said "Can we turn the fan on?" He then pinched his nose with his hand and sat down at the table. Gillian, on the other hand, said "Oh come on Mom!" As if I stink up the house every night. I told John that it wasn't necessary to hold his nose. He said "It's like you burned down the house!" Daddy didn't miss a beat and said "John, you need to get used to this if you are going to be a fireman when you grow up." John said "You mean firefighter! Girls and boys can be firefighters." He then proceeded to lecture Daddy on calling people firefighters verses firemen. Gillian listened to this entire discussion and said "I be a princess!" Yes, Gillian you can be a princess when you grow up.
Gillian loves to play dress-up. She loves wearing her princesses dresses and more recently she has started to dress up as a super hero. She loves to wear John's cape and all the various super hero masks. She always asks for help with the masks and they need to be placed on her head so that she can see, but not out of the eye holes. I don't think she likes to have the mask on her face.
On Sunday, she wore the red cape, carried Captain America's shield, Ironman's blaster and Wolverine's mask. Daddy says that most days she wears a princess dress and fairy wings under the cape, shield, blaster and masks. Love that she knows all the super hero names and that she mixes the princess with the super hero.
We recently painted Gillian's room and rearranged the furniture. Next to her big girl bed is her nightstand. On top of the nightstand is a princess alarm clock. Daddy bought this clock when Gillian was first born. I asked him to get me a clock so when I was up with her in the middle of the night I knew what time it was. It has been in her room since then on top of her high dresser.
Anyway, John saw her clock (now that it was low enough) and wanted to know if he could have an alarm clock. Not just any alarm clock, he requested a Kai alarm clock from Ninjago. Daddy finally found one (I guess everyone loves Kai). John started using it on Sunday night. We told John how to turn the alarm off and that when he woke up he needed to get dressed and then brush his teeth. Monday morning, Daddy and I waited to hear the alarm go off to see what John would do. The alarm went off and we could hear John jump out of bed and turn it off. He got dressed and went to brush his teeth. Tuesday and Wednesday morning were very similar.
This morning his alarm went off, Daddy and I saw him walk past our room and he went into the bathroom. He finished his business and came into our room. He said "I don't know if today is a stay-at-home day or a school day." Daddy told him that there were two more school days this week and then it would be a stay-at-home day. John looked a little said. So I told him, on stay-at-home days we don't have to set the alarm. He smiled big and said "Yes!" Then ran into his room to get dressed. His is growing up top quickly!
This morning while I was getting ready, Gillian was exploring in my closet. She first pulled out a pair of flip flops. She put them on and walked to me and said "I a jumping frog!" Then she jumped across the room. She got bored with those flip flops and went back to the closet. She pulled out another pair, put them on and walked around the room. She continued to pull shoes out of my closet and put them back when she was done. She found a pair of silver high heels that she called "Princess Shoes." She asked for help with the straps. I put the shoes on her and helped her stand up. She took like two steps and stopped. That's all she needed a few steps in princess shoes and she was off to play in a laundry basket.
Daddy is at a conference and told John that he was "the man of the house." John loves being man of the house. He thinks its just an opportunity to boss me around. Tonight at dinner, he said "Can I sit in Daddy's chair? Cause that's where the man of the house sits!" At bedtime he also said to me "You know, the man of the house gets to sleep in the big bed!" It's going to be a long couple of days.
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