The (Not So) Guilty Party and the Search for the Swamp Creature

In a 5-year-old's mind, Valentine's Day probably shouldn't ever end.  The sugar is just too sweet.

Li'l Miss, creating her very own super hero without even realizing it, has developed the powers of stealth and speed.  Just ask my unattended cell phone, as she runs off, clutching it in her hot little hands, giggling maniacally and cackling in her best Swiper the Fox voice, "Hahaha, you'll *never* find your phone now!"

Valentine's chocolates, secured in their shiny, red, heart-shaped box, do not have the super power of invisibility, much to my dismay.  On Saturday, after reaching into the fridge to get a bottle of juice, I turned around to find her hands in the candy box, a piece of chocolate held tight, that first bite taken before I could snatch it back.  In all honesty, it was quite funny, and I was quite impressed with her craftiness.  And I wouldn't have had much of a problem with it, except for the fact that it was one of those super-gooey, super-chewy, super-tough pieces of chocolate toffee encased in the milk chocolate, something she wasn't quite expecting, but did really well with anyway, as the photos below suggest.  Heck, it's sugar and chocolate - of course she did really well!  Now I'm wondering if the problem I had with her getting that particular piece of chocolate was more about the risk of choking, or about the fact that I coveted it for myself... 

And this, after shoving the large remaining portion in her mouth, suddenly discovering that a piece of candy like that is rather difficult to chew...

On another note, Samantha is no longer boycotting the Backyardigans.  I think she was just faking with her whole I'm scared of the Backyardigans spiel, and on Saturday, when she and I took a walk over to the lake in our neighborhood, she insisted (incessantly) on searching for the Swamp Creature.  Seriously, we could have been sitting there all day if I didn't eventually tell her (in my own, slightly more insistent way...) that the Swamp Creature wasn't there because he was having lunch with his mommy in another lake, and that we could go back and look for him another day. 

I don't think she bought it, but she relented and we finally left, the Princess already plotting out our next visit to the lake. 

Good thing it was a nice day.

"Swaaaamp Creeeeeature, where aaaaare you?  Come and see me, Swamp Creature!  Come on!  Swaaaaaamp Creeeeeature!!!!"