My First Animals

Between our trip to the zoo, wildlife we've seen in our and others' backyards, and playing with the pets of people we know, Madeleine has now seen enough animals to be able to identify most of the pictures in her "My First Animals" book. She did have a few interesting reactions to some of the photos, however:


"It's Cwawa! Woof-woof!"

Seeing as she also called Hundley, the doorman's dog from Curious George, Clara the other day, I'm guessing that since Auntie Shannon and her dog Clara visited at Easter, Madeleine has come to the determination that either a) all dogs are named Clara, or b) "Clara" is another word for dog.


When we got to this picture of a hen, Madeleine immediately leaned forward and smacked her head against the photo, leading to an explosion of laughter from Julia and repeated head smacks on each subsequent page of the book.
ME: What are you doing, Madeleine?
MADELEINE: I'm huggin a CHICKEN.
I should have known, since hens are so soft and cuddly and so obviously invite head hugs.

And of course, you can all imagine what Madeleine said when we got to this animal: