Hero Worship

It's official. Sadie has entered a hardcore Dora the Explorer phase. This isn't entirely unexpected as both of the older girls have gone through it. But I've never seen it hit this hard at such a tender age. Sadie is seriously besotted with this plucky cartoon character.

You never realize how many shirts, panties, nightgowns, stickers, books, toys and DVDs emblazoned with Dora's brown-eyed mug you have in your home until you have an enthusiastic seventeen-month-old gleefully pointing her out 30 or 40 times a day. "Dora! Dora!" yelled at top volume is Sadie's most common refrain. This week we have been very sick and stuck indoors. We discovered that if you leave a certain channel on all day, you can catch about 60 Dora episodes. Each time the Dora music comes on, Sadie yells her beloved's name, runs to the TV and begins to dance like a maniac. She sings along with the map song and the backpack song like a pro. And she even thrusts out her hand to indicate to Swiper that he shouldn't swipe. She's got it down.

I suppose I can sort of understand all the fuss. Dora is a very admirable character, after all. Just this week I've seen her adventurous spirit take her to the far reaches of outer space, down into the ocean to save some mermaids, and even go back in time to reunite a baby dino with its mama. She is exceedingly loyal to her friends (Boots is a cool guy so it's not much of a feat to see her be nice to him. But I've witnessed her showing kindness to Benny the Bull and he's quite the dud). Plus, who wouldn't admire a person with a backpack that contains every single item in the known universe, including a GPS device that sings catchy tunes? I know I certainly find her easier to relate to than those perfect Disney Princesses. And while the fact that she screams every line annoys me to no end, my girls not only find it endearing, but they imitate her volume level with great relish.

Still, Sadie's enthusiasm can be startling. And hilarious. The other night she woke up in the middle of the night. I heard her start to cry and decided to wait a few minutes to see if she'd settle herself back down to sleep. Her weeping intensified and I heard her begin to call out. I listened carefully to figure out what she was saying. I expected a "mama" or even a "dada" (I always cross my fingers that he's the one she wants at 2 AM). It took me a minute to realize that she was actually crying out (yes, you guessed it) "Dora! Dora!" I had to laugh, even at that ungodly hour. How I wish Dora could have answered her call. I've thoroughly explored Sadie's nursery in the middle of the night and would be happy to give someone else a chance, thank you very much.