All Kinds of Goofiness

This morning was off to an auspicious start after Madeleine declared her intentions to go down the stairs all by herself.  On a typical morning, on her way down from her bedroom, she likes to act completely helpless and insist I carry her on the stairs, so I welcomed her independence this morning.  As I brushed my teeth in the bathroom, I listened to her down-the-stairs commentary echoing from the back hallway.

"Mommy, I can go down the stairs by MYSELF.  Because...I'm a LITTLE GIRL!  And...little girls know how to go down the stairs.  Little girls can just HOLD the railing.  I'm just holding the railing because I'm a LITTLE GIRL!  Yeah!  I'm just holding the rail-"
THUD-THUMPITY-THUD-THUMPITY-THUD.
"Waaaaaah!"

Thankfully, it was a very minor wipe-out, from which she bounced back with buoyant resilience.

Before long, Madeleine was happily playing with toys in the living room, pausing only to ask my help.

MADELEINE: Mommy, can you help me find that BIG FAIRY?
ME: Okay.  Which fairy are you looking for?  The red one?
MADELEINE: Yeah.  Uh, no.  The PEACH one.  Because...that's the one I was playing with last year.

Unfortunately I have no idea which fairy is the peach one.  I don't believe we even have a peach fairy.  But then again, maybe I've just forgotten since it was last year that she played with it.

Julia joined us shortly, and she and Madeleine settled in for their morning time "Curious George" episode and their breakfast on the couch. 

"Julia," I overheard Madeleine say.  "I just have GOLBEN GRAHAMS in my mouth, so THAT'S why I look like a BOY."

Hmm.  What?!

Julia was not without wacky comments, herself.  Watching a tv scene that took place in the airport, her memory was suddenly jogged of speaking to Auntie Caitlyn on Sunday night as Auntie Caitlyn awaited her flight at JFK.  "Mommy," Julia told me wisely, "maybe I should have called Auntie Caitlyn when she was off the plane or ON the plane, instead of sitting in the AIRPORT, because, like, the lady who announces what EXIT it is was so loud that it was hard to HEAR." 

That darn lady announcing exits, foiling a lovely auntie-niece phone conversation. 

Later in the morning, the Rowe ladies headed over to Julia's new school to join in a meet-and-greet on the playground, where she got to meet the kids who will be in her kindergarten class, and I got to talk with some parents.  While shy and a bit clingy at first, Julia ultimately wound up making a new friend, and the two girls bonded while pumping on the swings side by side.  In fact, Julia had her new friend in stitches, raucously laughing over Julia's various goofy comments and repeated shoutings of "Hi, Quaw-Quee Clark!" to me.  Among Julia's other hilarity-inducing exclamations were: "Mama, can you push me because I'm lower than a shrinking BOAT!", "Mama, can you push me because I'm lower than a PEACOCK!" and "Mama, can you push me because I'm lower than a PLAYGROUND that's getting KNOCKED DOWN!"

Julia kept her comedic wit coming, until she brought things to an awkward halt with this loudly shouted question: "MAMA!  Are you DEATH?"

NEW FRIEND'S MOTHER AND NEW FRIEND: Silence.
ME: Uh, no, I'm not.
JULIA: But you were when you got WATER IN YOUR EAR!


Uh, hi, new friend's mother.  I promise my daughter is neither a Harry Potter-esque Death-Eater nor someone who makes jokes about deaf people.

Luckily, Julia quickly got her groove back and was soon causing her new friend to shriek and giggle over Julia's Quaw-Quee Clark humor.

Thank GOODNESS Julia didn't decide to talk in her "Hello, There" voice and inform her new friend on what her Daddy taught her about Apple Crack.