Play Time

Time passed quickly, and before you knew it, Helen was a child, with that little bit more independence under her belt. Sadly, because I hadn't been paying any attention, I didn't get to choose her next trait, but it was a favourable one chosen by the game itself.



Brave.

She was a playful child to begin with, playing in the sandpit, making castles.



Here's one she made earlier....
... cute huh???



Also playing tug of war with Rina, a game also a firm favourite with Brosie too!!



Although sometimes Rina would be really content to gnaw at her favourite chew toy.



Sometimes Brosie would try to teach her to hunt.




But she'd look up at him with a baffled expression and he'd give up soon afterwards!!!



The one thing that Helen really looks forward to, is her 'daddy' time, with Ambrose, when he reads her a bedtime story.



At least gardening is a step up from boring old logic!!!! When she's much older, Helen can give her mummy a hand in the garden!!




And hopefully, when finances are a little better, Helen's room will be finished off!! The store claimed that they'd run out of that particular wallpaper. So I can see Helen having a total bedroom makeover before too long!!!!

Crime ... and Punishment

It happened a couple of days after Marina joined the Graystone family. It was Ambrose's day off, and he'd been sent out on an errand to get some watermelons for Virginia. Firstly because she had a craving for them (along with spaghetti and ice cream!!!!) And secondly because she wanted to improve her gardening skills and needed new seeds for her now seriously neglected garden.

Helen had just woken up, as had Ginny. So, to stop Helen from screaming the place down, Virginia decided to bring her out of her crib, and let her play for a little while. She'd been fed, diaper changed. She'd even managed to use the potty chair all by herself, which helped Virginia greatly.

Marina had gone missing, and Ginny assumed that she was in Helen's new room, to sleep on the bunk beds again. This just happened to be Marina's favourite spot lately. So she went to check on her.....

..... and heard this terrible ripping noise.



Opening the door gingerly, she spotted Marina in full gleeful flow, tearing shreds out of a chair that they'd managed to purchase from the consignment store. It HAD been almost new, hardly used, since the previous owners had to sell it since their son had now gone to college and didn't need it any more.



"RINA!!" Ginny bellowed sharply.

Marina froze. She knew she'd done wrong.

"OUT! NOW!" Virginia commanded, and Rina followed, knowing full well what was about to go down.

Virginia needed to set up some serious boundaries with Marina, now that she'd overstepped them a LOT today and taken advantage of her new owners' good nature.

Trotting behind her, Marina wagged her tail as she passed Helen, happily playing with her toys. She paused to give the toddler a lick, but was stopped by Ginny.




"No Marina," she said sharply, "here!"



As soon as she got close enough, that's when Virginia let loose with her anger.

"Bad dog!" she said, pointing.




Marina's head went down, her ears fell back and her tail drooped between her legs.

"You do NOT do that again! You hear? That's what toys are for. BAD DOG!"



Just then, Ambrose walked in.

"What's going on?" he asked, clutching the shopping bag of fruit.

"I caught Marina ripping apart that chair in Helen's new room."

He glared at Marina, who still cowered a little, then shrugged.



"Think she might need a nice long walk," he said quietly, "that could stop her from doing it again. Besides, you did a good job telling her she can't do that again. We'll just have to watch her a little more from now on, just in case she tries it again. The more you tell her no, the better she'll understand."

He rattled the leash and Marina's ears perked up.



"C'mon girl," he said, patting her head, "let's go for a walk, get rid of that excess energy of yours."

Marina replied with a bark, before dashing outdoors, nearly pulling Ambrose with her.



Since it was mid evening, when the roads were a little quieter, they walked quite a distance, Marina stopping occasionally to sniff the ground and familiarize herself with her surroundings.



It was nice to see the two of them bonding even more. When they finally returned, Marina was far too tired to worry about destroying anything. She went straight into Helen's room and flopped on the bed, fast asleep!!!


In the next update ...

It's Play Time!!!!