Julia the Grown-Up, Madeleine the Conductor

Julia continues to make fashion headlines with her past few days' outfits.  Here is yesterday's ensemble, which she got to show off not only at school, but also at Creative Movement's open gym, as well as at the piano lesson to which she and Madeleine accompanied me:

 
Notice that Madeleine, in the background, is also wearing a striped dress.  This has become a pathology for her.  Madeleine feels as if she simply cannot deal with life if she is not dressed exactly like her sister.  It doesn't stop at the outfit, either: all hairstyles must match as well.  Hence the little bow in Madeleine's hair, in imitation of her sister.  If I happen to dress Madeleine first, she needs assurance that Julia will be wearing the exact same thing before she'll willingly put on whatever I picked out.  As in:

ME: (in Madeleine's room at bedtime) Here are your butterfly jammies, Madeleine.
MADELEINE: Uh... is Julia putting on HER butterfly jammies too?
ME: (thinking:) you mean the non-existent butterfly pajamas that she DOESN'T HAVE?  (spoken aloud) uh... YEAH!  I think she is!


At any rate, Julia felt uber-confident in this striped dress/leggings combo, and as we walked to the piano lesson I had to teach a few blocks from our house, she took the opportunity to flaunt her fashion sense by walking a few steps ahead of Madeleine's stroller.

ME: Jules, it's okay for you to walk ahead of us now if you want, since we're on the sidewalk and there are no major intersections coming up for awhile.
JULIA: Mama, I was HOPING I wouldn't have to walk next to you right here, because I wanted to pretend that I'm a GROWN-UP!

Then, as she walked just ahead of us, she instructed me to talk about her as if she were a grown-up.

ME: Madeleine, look at that BEAUTIFUL grown-up ahead of us!  I love her outift!
JULIA: (beaming, sashaying her hips back and forth, walking as if on a runway.)

When the piano lesson was over and we were on our way home, Julia eagerly inquired, "Mama, can we play the GROWN-UP game again?"

Today's outfit is even more outrageous, and just so very "Julia" that it suits her perfectly:

The Barbie band-aid on her chest fits the color scheme of her outfit beautifully, n'est-ce pas?

While Julia has been busy playing grown-up, Madeleine decided today to play conductor, after watching the Curious George episode yesterday in which George conducts an orchestra.  She set up two chairs, got a book of Chopin piano pieces, and grabbed my old conducting baton off the piano.  Sitting in her own chair, she happily conducted the piano music, which in her mind must have been a vocal score, as she sang her own made-up song as she conducted:

Notice that she, of course, is wearing a flowered dress, in order to match Julia's floral print ensemble shown above.  Notice, also, that she is holding the conducting baton upside down.  Julia found this complete unacceptable.  "Madeleine, Madeleine.  Let me show you how you're SUPPOSED to hold this."  Before long, amateur conductor Madeleine was a pro:

Bravo!