Week 47 - The Toddler War Begins

The empire had been ruled peacefully for many years under the reign of Queen Meredith The Merciful and King Marty the Miraculous (it was a miracle he got her to marry him.) Almost a year ago, the Monarchs received a new princess in the kingdom. At the time, the polis celebrated the arrival of Princess Elise The Exuberant. Despite some disruptions and changes in the kingdom, as the months past, peace seemed to be secured as the Princess began to sleep through the night and get cuter with every passing day. But with the advent of self-propulsion by the Princess, everything began to unravel and the her powers grew almost as fast as her confidence in walking. In addition, she was able to expand her powers with that of speech this week. All leading to the breaking point of the Monarch's power. The crisis that was brewing came to head and we are sad to report that there has been a coup d'etat! The young Princess has officially deposed her parents and has vowed to never to let her parents rule again. She has trapped them in a prison of perpetual motion, hoping that the more they chase her, the less time there will be for them to rule over her.

The rebellion took root on Wednesday when the Queen was duped by the Princess' personal attendants at the daycare to pick her up early. The attendants claimed she had pink eye and the Princess played her part perfectly. Despite the Queen's insistence that there was no pink she made a doctor's appointment for her anyway. The doctor was unsure but played it safe (exactly what the Princess was counting on) and ordered a prescription of eye drops for the Princess. Why did Elise The Exuberant want this you ask? Well, she had traveled many times to the mythical land of CVS and she knew that the chaos that could be created would trap the Queen into making many mistakes. Allow me to elaborate.

The Queen went into CVS all alone (First Mistake) with the Princess. Once there, the Princess became VERY cranky. And while the pharmacist behind the counter assured Queen Meredith the Merciful that he would fill the prescription immediately, it turned out that mother and daughter were alone in the store for almost an hour waiting. Unconfirmed reports due suggest that the Pharmacist was on the payroll of the Princess. Needless to say, the Princess was not confined to a stroller as in past trips to the store and wanted, nay, demanded she be put down. At which point she used her powers of self-propulsion to rocket herself through the narrow aisles pulling things off the shelves and tearing the place apart. The Queen, thinking fast, picked her up, took her over the the card aisle thinking the bright colors and cards would keep her occupied. Instead, the Princess was able to reach the cards and throw them on the floor repeated. The Queen frantically tried everything, distractions, Cheerios, keys, cell phone, nothing worked! The Princess was focussed on creating as much destruction and terror as possible. The toddler war had begun!!!!

Unbeknownst to the Princess however, the King and Queen vow that they will one day break free from the Prison of Perpetual Motion and regain control. (As if this post wasn't cheesiest enough...) The Empire will Strike Back!
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In other news of the week -
Elise officially said her first word. While she has been babbling for months and occasionally has been able to put a series of sounds together resembling a word, there was little intention behind it. This is, until this week. Meredith took her to the park and while playing with another older child, Meredith asked Ellie to 'say hi' and well, she did. Clearly and repeatedly. "Hi." In disbelief, Elise repeated the feat for me later int he week and now has added bye to her repertoire. It's not yet consistent or always on demand, but she has definitely crossed a threshold of verbal communication. It's pretty exciting.
Ellie's Oma (Meredith's mom) and Gram (Marty's mom)
Lastly, for those of you that are interested, we started a 529 College Fund for Elise this week. The great thing about a 529 is that Elise can use the money on any college related expense in any state and others can contribute to it at any time. Tuition, books, car, tools and supplies, whatever. In addition, god forbid, if Elise decides college is not for her, we can transfer the money without penalty to another child or relative. So her cousin Kamryn's college fund might get a boost if Ellie decides to travel the world instead of going to college. (Let us remind you that currently the Monarchy is not in control. ;-))