We’re off on our happy vacation, to what a friend calls “the Kingdom of Mouse”!

See you real soon!

Why? Because we LIKE you!

We’ve been concerned about our two-year old daughter lately, because she doesn’t seem to like rides. She panics whenever we put her on anything that rocks back and forth, whether it’s a carousel or a coin-operated machine horse. She can’t even stand sitting on the wobbly spring-based riding toys in playgrounds.

This wouldn’t normally be a concern, but we’re taking her to Disneyworld at the end of the month, where they have lots of rides. We hoped to hear Abby squeal with joy rather than terror. And Nicki was really looking forward to taking Abby on the flying Dumbo ride. But if she can’t handle the grounded wobbling playground animals, we’ll never get her to climb inside a fat flying elephant.

So Nicki was thrilled when she took our daughter to a friend’s birthday party two months ago and Abby rode a horse.

A big horse.

As far as Abby’s concerned, a dinosaur.

Once she saw all the other kids lining up for rides, she figured she was missing out on some vital playtime. She wasn’t disappointed. After she got settled (or saddled?) on the horse, she giggled and squealed like all happy little girls should on a riding horse, and asked to ride again and again.

She also loves flying around our house now. (Actually, I hold her up in the air and she sticks her arms out and I tell her she’s flying. But it’s not real. It’s just an illusion. Our daughter can’t actually fly. Anyway …) She tells me which hall to take her down next, and she shrieks like crazy. It’s quite an ear-popping sound. If she continues to develop her screams, she’ll be able to shatter glass by age five.

Sometimes she dons her sunglasses or her blanket as a cape and yells, “Supermannnn!” as she drifts through the house. Then Nicki got her to start yelling, “Super Abbyyyy!” whenever she “flies”. Or stomps in place. Or does her version of a somersault – putting her head on the ground and rolling forward until she falls over sideways. Which is still pretty good for a two-year old.

I’ve started preparing Abby for Disneyworld in my own way: exposing her to all the best Disney movies. For a two-year old, the movie has to be pretty engaging to hold her attention for more than a minute. She can watch “Curious George” all the way through, but I discovered that “Beauty and the Beast” and “Alice in Wonderland” are too complex for this age. We didn’t even discuss Belle’s economic background that helped forge her personality, or the question of why Alice’s parents couldn’t keep better track of her. But that’s not so important. I just want her to recognize some of the characters when she sees them at Disneyworld.

Imagine my surprise when I plugged in an old Disney film I haven’t watched since I was near Abby’s age. Abby absolutely loves “Dumbo”! The second it ended, she asked, “Again? More elephants?” So we watched it a few more times, as Abby smiles and points out elephants, the mouse, the trains, and all the other animals, to help me follow what’s happening.

Now that she’s flying, riding dinosaurs, and watching “Dumbo”, I’m confident that she won’t freak out on the rides at Disneyworld. When we’re back, I hope to post a nice picture of Nicki and Abby flying through the air in a fat, happy Dumbo.

Of course, she might still panic on a few rides, or over a giant cartoon mouse looming over her with big ears. (Who wouldn’t?) But we’ll help her face that fear when it comes. We all have to learn to crawl before we can fly.