EDIT:  Just for girl_in_pictures:  Click this link to see Ju-Ju in a Dora bathing suit (below the butterflies), and scroll all the way down to see Natty.  The black and white one is my favorite. :)

JU-JU's PLAYLAND

Ju-Ju has really been entertaining herself well lately.  [Not so much today, but that's another story.  We need to put the barbies back in the closet, but I'm getting ahead of myself.]  Since there are only 2 'kid bedrooms,' and Natty Baby still naps, we often keep the barbie castle, bin, and horses in the master bedroom closet.  It's not a huge closet, but it is the only walk-in.  And it's big enough for Bananna and Ju-Ju to create elaborate 'set-ups' with the castle.  Best of all, they can close the door and be safe from Natty the Destroyer.

Ju-Ju also loves to play "teeny princesses."  For those of you who are not familiar with them, they are another ingenious incarnation of the Disney princesses.  They are much smaller than barbies, with teeny-tiny dresses made of rubber and even teenier shoes and accessories.  The teeny princesses have their own container, separate and distinct from the barbie bin.  Don't be too impressed; most of our toys are a jumble.  Bananna takes special care to keep the teeny princesses away from the little ones.  She even labeled her own bin, lest her princesses end up like Ju-Ju's. . .lost.

Anyway, in a generous moment, Bananna let Ju-Ju play with the coveted teeny princesses the other day.  In fact, ALL day, we kept saying, "Where's Ju-Ju?  Oh yeah, in the barbie closet."  I guess Ju-Ju was in search of a clean play area, so that afternoon she set up the princess stuff all over the floor of my bathroom.  The bathroom is so small, that when you open the door, it wrecks the whole ball, but whatever.  I squeezed in the door to actually use the bathroom, and her playing cracked me up.  This is what she told me:

"They're at the ball, and ALL the animals came."  She pointed to a collection of teeny-tiny animals.

"They had to take the magic carpet, because they left their car at work.  And this blue dress and this pink dress are in love with eachother."

"Oh, are those dresses people too?" I asked.  It seemed like a logical question, because all of the dresses stood together, in a group, like ladies and gentlemen at a ball.

"No."

"So they're just dresses, but the dresses are in love with eachother," I clarified.

"Uh huh."

"Is that Cinderella, way up there in the pocket of my robe?  What's she doing up there?" I asked.

"She left to go save Belle and Jasmine, because their mother got turned into a SNAKE!"

There is so much expression in that chubby little face.  And when she emphasizes words like, "SNAKE," she lifts her eyebrows, and her round, blue eyes get even bigger. 

I'll have to post a current Ju-Ju picture soon.  But that old profile picture is her.  It was taken well over a year ago. . .Notice the round eyes.