my pride and puppy

so this is my beautiful, imaginative, smart 4 year old.... all dressed up like an "ariel princess" at the just for fun, princess tea party that we had. She loves to play dress up, she loves to learn and practice saying and writing and reading the alphabet, she loves playing "mommy"....esp. to animals, but her newest pastime is being the animal. She has recently introduced us to her alter ego - Cooler, the pound puppy. She took this identity after watching Pound Puppies (the original cartoon series) on Boomerang over at the Hardings (thanks alot guys) So, now- more often than not - she responds ONLY to Cooler.....It was cute at first, but I am not gonna lie, there are times now, that I am worried she might be "that kid" in school. I find myself in public places saying "here boy!" (as directed) or holding an imaginary leash; she will bark instead of talk, lick instead of hug or kiss.....and the other day outside, I watched as she lay on the driveway with the neighbor's dog, following his lead and licking her leg. I have to get her 3 bowls...one with dog food(goldfish), another with water, and the last with a dog treat(normally an oreo) - most everyday! Even recently her new found best girl friend and playmate wanted her to come over and play with only one request: Maley Jane told her mom that she did not want to play with Cooler! She even asks that when we say prayers - I say only Cooler and not tanner at all - so there I am, praying for salvation at an early age for a make believe dog! there is one perk: fortunately, Tanner Kate sometimes has trouble minding - but Cooler is quite obedient. 

Tonight, we read a book before bed called "I see a Kookaburra" about all kinds of animals in different habitats, and at the back there is the extra fine print paragraphs of info on each of the animals (not a good quick "off to bed" book) so, we were reading about animals on the Savanah and she wanted to read about the Dingo (wild dog in Australia, fyi) so, the minute I started reading...."About 3500 years ago the first dogs were taken to Australia likely from India....blah blah..." she immediate gets out from the covers, gets on all fours and paces up and down the length of the bed, growling....the paragraph describes the dogs as WILD dogs, when she begins shaking her head and growling and barking louder. I finally got her to sit down, but she insisted I read the Dingo part once more and she was immediately up and at em again....this time explaining to me that she was gonna grow up to be a huntin' dog.....

Like I said, cute at first, but hopefully there is hope and this will be just be one of the many awkward phases....until then I will settle for pride and puppy!