I just spent half an hour attempting to play Dora Candyland with a not quite 2 1/2 year old. The game is for 3+ but that did not deter miss Doraobsession, who spotted the box and wanted to do NOTHING else but "play wif my Dora game pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!!!!" She can get the color thing down, where you draw a card and move your piece onto the corresponding colored square. What's missing is the ability to understand that you are following this colored path to and END POINT; that you only get to be one piece at a time; that no, Murphy does NOT want to be Boots this time; that you cannot walk on the board "like a balance beam mommy!", that you do in fact have to take turns with the other person (or dog) playing with you, etc.

Unrelatedly amusing moment from this week's adventures in Pottyland...we have been able to get her to at least AGREE to sit on the potty lately, but only on the BIG potty - no more potty seats, thank you very much. Despite the fact that her skinny little butt fell right in a few days ago, she is undeterred. She holds onto the big potty porcelain seat with both hands and reminds me "I am NOT falling in dis time Mommy!!"

She accomplished a great big poop on the potty the other night (by coincidence, not by telling us she had to poop or anything helpful like that) and we did the whole routine - "now we wipe! and now we get a STICKER!!" I reminded her that we had to flush the poop away so I pulled the handle and she sticks her head over the bowl watching the poop go away and yells "BYE BYE POOPY!!! HAVE A NICE WEEK!!!!!!!!!"

She is nothing if not polite.