Madeleine 2006-08-19

elliot — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 16:00:34 -0500

One of Madeleine's current favourite games is changing the first letters of words in songs she's singing. One of her favourite songs for this is the one that starts "Point to the ceiling, point to the floor, point to the window, point to the door...". Which she sings as "Boint to the beeling, boint to the boor, boint to the bindow, boint to the boor...".

The idea of "jokes" has entered her consciousness. Of course, she doesn't understand them or what makes them funny, but she still says "Let's tell jokes". Her first joke was: "Q: Why do cows have bells? A: Because their horns don't work."

She has invented a game called The Cucumber Game: she holds two fists out, unfurls the fingers of one hand, then the other hand; places her hands palm-down on the table; then claps her hands together horizontally (like a crocodile snapping its mouth shut).

A slightly perturbing advance is that she now makes the Sign of the Devil (holding out little finger and forefinger while folding middle two fingers in). I'm not sure who taught her this. Probably learned it at pre-school. Probably a rap thing.

She is now going through the night without wetting the bed (most nights), though we have to get her up at 11.00 to go for a wee (on the potty). Fortunately, she does this almost without waking up.

Madeleine watched her first film all the way through tonight (2006-08-19). It was called Madeline. It's not a great film, but OK (Frances McDormand is in it). Madeleine has the first Madeline book, which she really likes, and I think she realised the connection between the book and the film. I felt a bit concerned and protective as there were some scary clown scenes and moments of "peril", but she coped really well. At the end (at about 7.45pm, past her usual bedtime), she said "Can I go to sleep now?" and turned the TV off without me having to ask her. I think she enjoyed it. The Chocolate Buttons helped.

Has entered the "Why?" phase, and continually questions everything you do or say. Has also discovered saying "Owww!" when you tell her she can't do what she wants to.

Current favourite toy is Duplo. She likes making bunk beds, swimming pools, houses with stairs. She also likes playing shops. She really likes books (still), though for some reason she really loves Beatrix Potter books (in the original, long-winded, arcane-language form - I don't even know what some of the words mean - what the hell is "goffering", for instance? - [turns out it means "pressing ridges or creases into clothes with an iron"]).

townx - Madeleine 2006-08-19 - Comments

Madeleine 2006-08-19