Random Madeleine-isms

Madeleine donned another beloved dress this morning; in fact, this particular dress happens to be her absolute favorite, despite it not being brand new like yesterday's school outfit was.  Instead of completing today's outfit with a dog mask, Madeleine opted instead for these must-have accessories:

One thing that's certain about Madeleine: she's definitely full of surprises.  You never *quite* know what she's going to do or what's going to come out of her mouth.  From donning a dog mask and woofing around while crawling through the dining room to today's outfit and subsequent conversation with her Rapunzel doll (naked, seen in the left-hand side of the above photo.)  After putting on her hat, sunglasses and tap shoes, Madeleine transformed into Rapunzel's mother, stripped Rapunzel of her dress, and began to reprimand her daughter.  "Rapunzel, we already talked about this being NAKED."  Apparently, according to Madeleine, Rapunzel was "dupposed" to be wearing her dress, but she took it off, even though Madeleine didn't want her to.  That darn disobedient Rapunzel.  What's a mother supposed to do with her?  Lock her in a tower?!?

Madeleine's random, unexpected statements are one of my favorite things about her.  Even when she has no idea what's really going on, she manages to spout out total BS with sheer and utter confidence in the truth of her statements.  By the end of the day yesterday, it was clear she had forgotten just exactly what she'd done at preschool.  The answers to questions I had asked her earlier were completely different, and undoubtedly untrue.  No matter; Madeleine delivered every bit of information as if it was fact, even when the rest of us knew better.  For example:

JULIA: Madeleine, what did you do at school today?
MADELEINE: (with certainty) Um... I played the VIOLIN!
JULIA: Mama, did she really?
ME: I don't see how she possibly could have played the violin.
JULIA: Madeleine, did you play in housekeeping?
MADELEINE: Yes.  Uh, NO!  Uh, the teacher wouldn't let me.
JULIA: Why wouldn't she let you?
MADELEINE: Uh...she said that I was too LITTLE to play with it.
JULIA: Mama, is that true?
ME: No.  She did play in housekeeping.  It was the first thing she did when I dropped her off.
JULIA: Madeleine, you DID play in housekeeping.
MADELEINE: Uh, no.  I didn't.  I have to be BIGGER.

Today, as Madeleine and I took a walk to the nearby Trader Joe's, she continued spewing nonsense from that wild imagination of hers. 

MADELEINE: (as we set out along the sidewalk) Mommy, but remember: you HAVE TO HOLD MY HAND when we're walking in the street.
ME: (already holding her hand) Oh, okay.  Got it.  Thank you for reminding me.
MADELEINE: (cheerfully) You're welcome!  But...we need to hold hands when we walk.
ME: You're right, we do.
MADELEINE: But...we don't need some help, do we?
ME: No, we don't.
MADELEINE:  Yeah.  Because...we don't want to step on some CROCODILES.
ME: No, we sure don't.

We managed to avoid stepping on some crocodiles on our way to the store,  as well as on our walk back.  In fact, Madeleine's mind had shifted away from crocodiles as we neared our house on our way home.  She suddenly felt the need to break our peaceful silence in order to inform me: "Mommy, Julia is almost turning LITTLE.  And...she's almost turning TWO."

Oh.  How about that.  I wish I had the secret to turning younger.  I would totally shave a few years off if I could.  I'll have to see if Julia can fill me in on how she does it.  Not that I necessarily want to turn as young as two, but, hey, twenty-nine can't hurt, can it?

I look forward to hearing what random inanities Madeleine comes up with on our walk to pick up Julia from school.  That is, if we don't get eaten by some crocodiles along the way.