House climbing

Madeleine is really interested in Julia's Little People paraphernalia, especially her Little People house (where Cartacarizza, Laurie, Scott, Baby Laurie, Sarah, and Baby Madeleine live.) Not only does she like pulling the aforementioned Little People out of the house and stuffing them in her mouth (thank goodness the new Fisher Price people are way too huge to be choking hazards), but she particularly likes using the house as a means to stand herself up:



But, really, why play with the house upright, when you can tip it over and then climb on top of the whole thing?:




And moving on to Julia, she is still enjoying "Make Way for Ducklings" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." She wins major brownie points with her composer mother for commenting that the music to Daniel Pinkham's "Advent Cantata" (which we were listening to last night at dinner) reminds her of the music to "Make Way for Ducklings." And as for chocolate factories, she asked me last night, after we'd stopped at the end of another chapter, if Central Market in Austin is a factory. I guess the bulk candy wing of the store must be what she's imagining as we read about Willy Wonka's factory. Glad to know that when we grocery shopped down there we were really taking her into a dream-come-true candy wonderland! When I asked her what kind of candy she would want to try from Mr. Wonka's factory, she asked, "Mama, um, do they have blue?" I assured her there must be blue candy there, and she decided that was her top pick. Perhaps she'll change her mind when she hears about Violet Beauregarde turning into a blueberry, though...