Blast from the Past

I showed Madeleine a picture taken of her exactly 6 years ago today, when she was still a newborn baby:

This picture obviously caused her some confusion, as she attempted to understand how old she was 6 years ago.


MADELEINE: Mama?  How OLD was I?
ME: You were two months old.
MADELEINE: Wait.  Mama.  I was TWO??
ME: You were two MONTHS old.
MADELEINE: But...Mama, I mean...how OLD was I?
ME: You were two months old.  You were still a newborn baby.
MADELEINE: But how many YEARS was I?
ME: You weren't even one year yet.  You were two months old.
MADELEINE: So Mama.  I was NO age?
ME: No, you were an age.  You were two months old.
MADELEINE: But...I mean...was I, like, TWO years old or something?
ME: You were two MONTHS old.
MADELEINE: So I was NO age?
ME: You were two months old.
MADELEINE: But.  Mama.  I mean what AGE was I?
ME: You were two months old.
MADELEINE: So I was NO age?

Clearly, she just can't grasp the concept of age in smaller quantities of measurement than years.

Now, six years later, Madeleine is a knowledge factory, amassing all kinds of facts and information from her studies at school.  Lately, she's learning about space, and she is ready to enhance her studies with a 100% real-life space experience.

MADELEINE: Mama.  I wonder, if at school, we're gonna suck up all the GRAVITY with a VACUUM...so we can float around!
ME: Oh, no, I don't think you're going to be able to do that.  You have to go to space to do that.
MADELEINE: (cheerfully) But Mama. We're LEARNING about space!!

I guess the fact that she did not actually travel to Hawaii during the recent Hawaiian unit has not clued Madeleine into the fact that her class will not be simulating real-life zero-gravity situations in the classroom.

I look forward to seeing what further knowledge and abilities Madeleine has six years in the future!