One day in late 2006, Madeline and I were on our way to the local mall to play (indoor play centers) when we hit Starbucks on the way. As I was unbuckling her seatbelt, I said "You can go to the bathroom and I'll get a coffee." Madeline said, "that wouldn't be a good idea to leave me alone!" I laughed out loud! I certainly had no intentions of leaving Madeline to go to the bathroom alone while I got my coffee, but apparently, she thought so. I quickly restated our purpose and she was ok with that.
On a day in 2007, we were sitting at the dinner table and talking about stuff when Madeline, out of the blue, mentioned one of Gretchen's friends, Kathy. Kathy happens to work at the local JoAnn fabrics in Defiance, OH and Madeline recalls meeting her. Well, Madeline said "I wonder why Kathy wasn't there that day." (she does this often, so I had to really think about what she was talking about and then what day she could be referring to) Once I figured out she was talking about Gretchen's friend and the timeframe, I answered her. But then, Zak mentioned that maybe we could find the duckcloth we need for a hunting vest from Kathy's store. Madeline said "Kathy's store doesn't sell ducks! (with furrowed brow)" We then informed Madeline what duckcloth was and then she agreed that yes, Kathy would probably have that for us on our next visit. (the need has since been met)
The storytelling has begun. Now, as new parents, you are told not to interfere too much with this imagination stage. They are telling stories for a reason, and you just need to figure out why. If the child is telling an outright lie to avoid punishment, then that needs to be addressed. But, if she is just telling a story, then you should encourage it and gently slip in reminders like "this is such a good story you're telling" so she is fully aware everyone knows it's a story and not the truth. Well, one day she was telling her Grandma & PopPop (Boose) about her day at Gymnastics. There was talk about the bars and from nowhere she says "Sometimes the kids bap me." And when questioned, she confirmed that they did in fact "bap" her. Now, I attend her classes with her, at her side the whole time in fact, and no one has ever "bapped" her. But, this was just the first story she tried out and it apparently got the attention she wanted, because more have followed. I'm not sure what the message was in that story, but it was never mentioned again.
At night, she's always liked hearing Mommy or Daddy stories. So, one night, she offers up a story to Daddy. She told the story of some tricks she learned in elephant school, and told him all about them. Every now and then, she'll tell a story from elephant school, or guinea pig school and she tries very hard to elaborate. It's exciting to imagine her brain working so hard to come up with this really great story. I'm going to keep encouraging it.
Madeline loves playing with her baby doll every so often and she says the sweetest things to her. i.e. "You love this apple, don't ya baby?" (high pitch loving words). She'll do this to her stuffed animals too (thank you Sue for the latest installment! much appreciated and adored!) The best part is the "don't ya?". Sometimes the "ya" is up, and sometimes it's down, but either way it's so cute to watch her. When it's up, her face is expecting and hopeful. When it's down, she has a more "googoo gaga" face (like someone trying to talk to a new baby). She does this with her friend, Iris too. Iris will be 3 in May, so Madeline must know she's a bit older or something, because she really tries to show/teach Iris everything. Iris doesn't really seem to mind too much, she's very glad they get to play together.
The other day, I was doing something in the oven and said "oh God" and from behind me, I hear "oh God, oh God" in exactly the same tone. It's funny, but at the same time, not so much. As some of you may know, I have quite the mouth at times. Well, every now and then, something slips out and once it does, you just hope that no one repeats it EVER! It's nice that she picks the relatively harmless ones to remind me that someone is listening.
There are about a thousand things I meant to write, but can't bring back from the depths right now. So, that's it for now.
