Yurt Trip

In January, Dad and I went on a "yurt trip" with our friends Doug and Treyden. They just posted a story about our trip on our blog... you can read about it and see some pretty cute pictures here!

A Story by Mazie

Once upon a time there was nothing in a tree and there wasn't nothing in the tree when you see her no Ms allowed. Then a girl came along was Mama. Then a girl came along was named Mazie. And then boy come along it was in the tree it was actually it was a chipmunk. A boy named Leela the chipmunk -- a boy chipmunk. Then a boy chipmunk came along was Pop Buckles. Then I came along and I name was Popsicle the girl. Then the whole town was freezing and then Squirrel the Boy got back in to his tree and Popsicle ran into his nest with a roof and they cuddled up tight. Then a chipmunk boy came along out of his tree and onto the nest but something peeked out of the nest -- it was Tita the Popsicle who wasn't scary, she was nice! Then a mouse came along and the mouse name was Ploody the Skedaddle. Then Tita chipmunk a boy and Poma the Popsicle and Mama the mouse all of them went across the street to Mazie James's house and Mazie James was still sleeping because it was nighttime. But Mazie yawned but she didn't wake up. She yawned again but she didn't wake up. And then Mazie just waked up and Mazie had her eyes open and Mama the mouse and Tita the Popsicle and Moody the chipmunk boy looked into Mazie's eyes and said, "Mazie is sitting up!" "Put on your daytime clothes," Pomba the Popsicle said, and Mommy the mouse said, "Put on your daytime clothes," and Nina the chipmunk said, "Wake up! Put on your daytime clothes. Now on. Goodbye."

The Jungle Book

About a month ago, on February 12, I made my theatrical debut in The Jungle Book. As many of you will know by now, either because you were there at the performance or because we told you about it, it was, well, a bit of a debacle, so Mom needed a little time to heal from the experience before she could work up to posting about it. Since I've got another performance (for my dance class!) scheduled in about two weeks, Mom figures it's time to tell the story and prepare (or brace herself) for my next shot at fame and fortune.

It all started when my older cousins, Mia and Maggie, decided to be in the Boulder Performing Arts production of The Jungle Book. The main roles were reserved for big kids like them, but they also needed 3 to 5 year olds to play the very important role of bumblebees. Aunt Jen signed my cousin Olivia and her friend Delilah up, and even though I was only about 2 1/2 when rehearsals started, Mom and Dad thought it would be fun for me to be a bee, too, so they bumped my age up by a few months and we went to the first rehearsal. The role was pretty straightforward -- we were just supposed to go out on stage during two songs, and then at the end of the second song each of us would step forward and say our names: "I'm Buzzy Bee Mazie!!" At the end of the show we went back on stage to bow. We practiced 3 Saturdays in a row, then had a dress rehearsal the Thursday before the Saturday of the performances. Throughout these 3-4 weeks we listened to our Jungle Book CD CONSTANTLY and I practiced my arm movements and buzzing. Mom and Dad hummed "The Bare Necessities" non-stop, and I shouted out, "I'M BUZZY BEE MAZIE!!!" over and over and over. We were all ready for the big day.

Two days before the big performance I came down with a fever after school, but it went away in less than a day and by Friday I seemed mostly back to my normal self. On Saturday the 12th, we showed up at the theater as instructed at 11 am for our 12 pm performance. Mom came back stage and me, Livi, and the other bees got our costumes and make-up on along with Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, Shere Khan, and all of the other jungle characters. We did a short run-through of our two songs on the stage, and I danced along and said my line perfectly. Then Mom went out to sit with Dad in the front row, and all of the other guests (including my Nana and Ahya) arrived and filled the theater.

As the lights went down, Mom heard a loud wailing backstage and Aunt Jen said, "I think that's Mazie." So Mom came backstage and found me hysterically insisting that I did not want to be in the play. Mom tried to calm me down and said she'd stay backstage with me. For the first number, she held my hand while I stood right at the edge of the curtain, just barely on stage, with a big frown on my face and refusing to dance. For the second song, The Bare Necessities, I wouldn't go on the stage -- Mom and I watched from the side. At the end of the song, I watched as all the other bees said their names, and suddenly I was conflicted -- I was supposed to be out there, too! Mia, playing Shere Khan, was backstage with us and offered to bring me out with her, so I walked out holding hands with her. But when it was time for me to say my name, I just crossed my arms and pouted. So that was that. Mom and I watched the rest of the play from backstage and I never went back out.

BUT that wasn't the end of the story, because performance #2 was coming up at 4 pm! Mom thought that maybe if I got some food in my belly and took a nap, I'd be fresh and ready to give it another shot. So we left and grabbed a sandwich... but I refused to eat, AND I refused to sleep, AND I kept insisting that I didn't want to go back or be in the play anymore. And now Mom and Dad were conflicted, because this was just for fun and they didn't want to be that kind of pushy parents, BUT we'd spent so much time building up to this and, to make matters worse, Grandpa, Grandma, and my three GREAT grandparents were all on their way to the show! So Mom and Dad decided we'd go back and give it a shot. On the way to the theater my attitude improved and I started saying that I WAS going to be in the play... sure enough, when we got to the theater, I got my costume back on and went backstage, letting Mom and Dad stay in their front row seats.

As the lights blacked out and the play started, there was silence back stage. The opening number began in a blackout, with a spotlight on two singers on the opposite side of the stage from where the bees were... Mom and Dad squinted trying to count the bees on stage. Were there six, or only five? The lights came up revealing... five bees. Buzzy Bee Mazie was missing once again. A few minutes later one of the stage hands quietly brought me out to sit with Mom and Dad, and I watched the rest of the play on Dad's lap. Then, as the closing number ended and the bees came out on stage, I suddenly decided that I DID want to be in the play! So Dad quickly put my wings back on, and I scrambled up the steps and across the stage and got to Livi and the other bees just in time to hold hand and, with a big smile on my face, take a big bow with my fellow performers!

And thus begineth my illustrious career as a thespian.... On the up side, Mom doesn't think the experience was too scarring for me... I still talk about how "I'm going to be in the Jungle Book!" and I wanted to listen to the CD again on the way home that day (Mom and Dad said no). Everyone is curious to see how our very informal dance performance goes in a couple of weeks... will stage fright strike again?? Or will I be a star performer?? Stay tuned....


Buzzy Bee Mazie, center, before the first performance with the rest of the Jungle Book cast

A Very Creative Girl

Wow, Mom and Dad have been really lazy with the blog posts recently. I guess they've been too busy watching busy little me to pause and document everything I'm doing these days.

One thing I do a LOT is talk. I like to have conversations with my parents and friends and ask lots of questions, but what I really love is telling stories. I've got so many people to talk about, including a bunch of imaginary friends. Aso (whose name, you'll recall, actually has a much more complicated spelling) is the friend I talk about most, but there's also Vini and several others, including Mo-Pia-Bo-Pie, who was a character in one of my first extended stories way back in March of 2010. Here she is again in a recent installment.


When I'm not telling my own stories I like to read stories other people wrote.


Here I am reading one of Mom's books, which is apparently about Rapunzel.


I also still love to dance, and last month I started my first dance class. It's at the Louisville rec center and I love it! Here are some pictures and short videos.






As you can see, I continue to be a bright and creative girl!

Money!

Nana gave us a singing card for Christmas and I like to dance to it!


I started a dance class last week. We haven't done any moves quite like this yet, but I'm sure we'll work up to it.

I'm the mother...

Last night we went over to Nana's house and I got to play with my cousins all night. We got home late and I was NOT ready for bed -- I kept insisting that I wanted to go downstairs. Finally Mom got me to lie down with her in my bed. We were cuddling and chatting together, and I said, "Now, I'm the mother and you're the daughter." Mommy played along, putting her head on my chest and asking if she could play with my belly button (since that's what I like to do to her). She thought it was a really cute game, but she didn't realize how sneaky and clever I was until I said, "Okay, daughter, now I'm going to get up and go sit in my chair where you can see me. Don't get out of bed!" And then I climbed out of bed, sat in Mom's rocking chair, and played with her phone while my "daughter" stayed in bed. She eventually got up and convinced me that I the game was up and I really did have to got to bed, but it was good while it lasted....

November Fun

November was a fun and exciting month. We went to North Carolina and visited my friends Miles, Tobin, and Evan.


One night Daddy was "sick" so Dr Miles and Dr Mazie helped him feel better.


I also got to be a guest player on Miles's soccer team! I'm the one in the green shirt. It was lots of fun! Dad says Livi, Crosby, and I can be on a team together next fall. I can't wait!


We also had a really fun Thanksgiving. We went to Nana's house in the morning, where I got to make a pumpkin pie!


Then we went to Great Uncle Randy and Great Aunt Janis's house in the early afternoon, and Great Barb and GGpa's house in the evening. I finished off the day by dancing on the fireplace where Mom used to perform when she was a little girl!


I continue to be a very social little girl and a non-stop talker. After Thanksgiving we went up to Winter Park for a few days and I got to play in the snow.



On the ride home in Uncle Ian and Aunt Michelle's car I told a LONG story about my good friend Aso (whose name, I recently informed Mom, is actually spelled A-M-T-H-Y-4 1/2-3 1/2-Mazie-I-E). In this story Aso was in a swimming pool and got bitten on the cheek and on her finger by a fish! Luckily, I was there to comfort her. There was also a dolphin, and then the dolphin got out of the pool and bumped into a little girl (Mazie). "And then," I explained, "the little girl NOTICED that the dolphin was crashing into her." Mom really laughed at that sentence, both because it was a great use of vocabulary and because she liked the mental image of the little girl suddenly catching on that there was a dolphin crashing into her.

Here's another video. I'm pretty good at sharing and was excited when Daddy gave me two pieces of my Halloween candy (that stuff sticks around for a long time!) since I figured I could have one and give one to Livi. But then Livi didn't end up coming over and, well, I sort of ate them both...