More Artwork

Madeleine made the following picture while I was practicing some music this afternoon:

While I was able to decipher some of what was going on - the pumpkin in the center of the paper, and the letters of her name, which she had then colored over, for instance - I was curious to hear the picture's whole story.

"Who did you draw here?" I asked, pointing to the blue blobby creature to the right of the page.
"Uh, that's ME," Madeleine reported.
"And who's this?" I asked, pointing to the Frankenstein-headed blue person with no eyes and a ginormous smile down at the bottom right of the page.
"Uh, that's ME," Madeleine answered.
Hmm.
"And who else did you draw?" I asked, waiting for her to explain the orange person to the left of the page.
"Uh, that's a DIFFERENT Madeleine that's ORANGE," she told me.

So.  Let me get this straight.  She not only wrote the name "Madeleine," but then proceeded to draw three Madeleines, as well as a pumpkin.  One of these things is not like the other.

She then got busy coloring in her new dinosaur coloring book from the dentist.  This book is all about Dudley the dinosaur, who has his first trip to the dentist, and learns all about the various tools that will be used on his teeth.  Madeleine, as usual, felt the need to bring her characters to life as she colored.  I was a bit slow on the uptake, much to her frustration.

MADELEINE: Mommy?  Why does THIS pumpkin say "HUH?"
ME: Um...I don't know.
MADELEINE: WHAAAAT?!?  I said this PUMPKIN!  Instead of this-this-this-
ME: This dinosaur?
MADELEINE: Yeah.  Why does this dinosaur say "HUH?"
ME: I don't know.
MADELEINE: (giggling) Yeah.  That's a DINOSAUR.  Not a pumpkin.
ME: (silence)
MADELEINE: MOM!  TALK TO ME!
ME: What do you want me to say?
MADELEINE: Say "okay!"
ME: Oh.  Okay.

I'm sure none of you will be surprised to see what color Madeleine used on Dudley the dinosaur:

And finally, in other news, Madeleine has given herself a wonderful new nickname. 
"My name is PLOOP!" she announced this morning, sending her sister off into a spiral of uncontrollable giggles.  I'm sure you can just imagine the chaotic hilarity that ensues any time one of the kids uses this nickname.  All it takes is for one kid or another to proclaim, out of the blue, "My name is PLOOP!" to make them both collapse in raucous laughter.

It's too bad she hasn't yet learned to write her new name down.  Then her picture could have had PLOOP written in the middle of it instead of Madeleine.