when a girl reaches a certain age...

...it's time for a big girl bed!

Belly will be 5 (holds up an entire paw) one week from today, and I'd been wondering what on god's green earth I was gonna get her since she's the girl who's got it all. And then I saw the pile of doggie beds at the store. On sale.

Belly's been sleeping on a makeshift bed since I got her four years ago. Uncle Paul generously donated an old quilt for her crate (ah, the good ol' days when Belly was contained...) and that quilt has served as her bed ever since. I'd been admiring the beautiful dog beds in the Fosters & Smith catalog and the LL Bean catalog, but alas, a girl with millions of dollars in student loans can't afford such luxuries.

So she got her burt-day present a week early, and I think she likes it. As soon as I walked in the house with what is essentially a huge pillow, she knew it was for her. She was so excited, running around the house flinging her toys and in her little head she was singing, "big girl bed! finally! a big girl bed!" I put it in her spot and she promptly sat on it like a pretty girl. "Mine. Big girl bed all mine."

And on her birthday she shall have ice cream.