One minute she is my sweet 2.5 year old little girl walking around talking and answering to her given name Brinna. The next, she is on all fours crawling around, barking, and only responding to the name Bella. She transforms into a dog.
I think she learned to pretend to be a dog from her playgroup friends. But then the game was heightened when she started playing doggy with Layla. Layla gave her the name Bella and trained her so that whenever you call her Bella she immediately drops to the ground and only barks.
Now Bella the dog will come over and jump her two front “paws” onto your legs. And she won’t get down until you say “down Bella.” If you are not sure what to say when she approaches you, Bella the dog will tell you “say down Bella.” She has now trained us to give her commands.
Kyler, Kacin, and Layla all think this new game of hers is hilarious. So throughout the day they will see Brinna—she might be eating at the table, playing with toys, joining our scripture study—and they will greet her as Bella. She immediately drops to the ground like a dog and starts barking. They way she responds to the name Bella cracks them up.
And then one day they taught her to play fetch. They toss pencils, toys, and one time it was one of Layla’s boots (and that is where I drew the line and said no shoes!), and tell her to fetch. She’s a very obedient dog and will crawl over and retrieve the item. With her mouth.
During meal times Bella the dog will come around to get “dog treats” (that resemble her lunch) from everyone.
This Bella the dog stage is actually a great way to have a pet without actually having a pet. Now when the kids beg for a dog, I can tell them they have Bella.
(These pictures have nothing to do with Bella. Just some sibling fun one morning)
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