Quinn doesn't quite have invisible friends, but she does have lots of invisible animals — cats named Milo (after the co-lead in Milo and Otis, dogs, rabbits, the occasional pony, etc. She will run after them, catch them, pet them, cuddle them, and want you to do the same. If she forgets one in the car or outside or something, she can get quite distressed.
However, they have, upon occasion, proved to be helpful to have around.
Over the past few nights, when she's gotten a little distressed/distracted at bedtime, I've been able to pet Coll the collie and Point the pointer as they curl up in bed with her and convince her that they need her to stay still in bed because her dogs want her to make the bed warm. The coup de grace usually involves finding Milo sitting on the end of the bed, waiting for Quinn to settle down so that she can go to sleep.
Some nights it's worked better than others, but it's nice to know the invisible animals can be helpful ...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Setting an Example
Upon occasion, I get quite frustrated with myself and say unkind, self-abusive things. (Self-abusive in the "You idiot" or "I'm a frickin' moron" sense, not the other, clinical sense of self-abuse — I'm sorry, but some readers make such clarification necessary.) Anyway, Celeste was feeling ill this morning and had a bit of a regurgitative moment, so Evelin set her up in her bed for a while to recuperate. To keep tabs on her while downstairs with Quinn, Evelin set up an old baby monitor in Celeste's room.
Flash forward to the evening. Evelin's in Quinn's room getting her to sleep, I'm downstairs (having been dismissed by Quinn) going through some work e-mail and I realize Celeste is coming through loud and clear on the monitor.
She's playing one of the games on her Vtech Kidizoom digital camera. [ASIDE: By the way, that was one of the best present's she's ever gotten ... not only has she had lots of fun with the extra features, like games, she's enjoyed taking pictures, albeit very low resolution ones, and there have been some interesting bits of accidental art.] However, things weren't always going the way she'd've liked and I could hear the occasional complaint of "Oh, that's not right" mixed with lots of "Stupid!"s ... which makes me think I need to be more careful what sort of verbal responses I have to my own missteps.
Flash forward to the evening. Evelin's in Quinn's room getting her to sleep, I'm downstairs (having been dismissed by Quinn) going through some work e-mail and I realize Celeste is coming through loud and clear on the monitor.
She's playing one of the games on her Vtech Kidizoom digital camera. [ASIDE: By the way, that was one of the best present's she's ever gotten ... not only has she had lots of fun with the extra features, like games, she's enjoyed taking pictures, albeit very low resolution ones, and there have been some interesting bits of accidental art.] However, things weren't always going the way she'd've liked and I could hear the occasional complaint of "Oh, that's not right" mixed with lots of "Stupid!"s ... which makes me think I need to be more careful what sort of verbal responses I have to my own missteps.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Animal Sounds
Celeste, as she will readily tell anyone and everyone within ear shot likes "puppies and that's all!" Quinn, however, is a much more equal opportunity animal aficionado. "I like puppies and bunnies and elephants and baa-baas [sheep] and turtles and ponies and kitties that don't scratch and ... and ... and ..."
Thus Quinn's animal noise extravaganza the other day shouldn't have been a surprise: "Meow-woof! Meow-woof! I'm a mixed up kitty!"
Thus Quinn's animal noise extravaganza the other day shouldn't have been a surprise: "Meow-woof! Meow-woof! I'm a mixed up kitty!"
Friday, January 23, 2009
Misheard Poetry
So Celeste and I are reading A Room With a Zoo before she goes to bed. Tonight we got to a chapter break and I notice the next chapter is 19 pages long.
I suggest that it might be too long of a chapter to read right now (we'd already read about 10 pages ... and she likes to interrupt, ask questions, start reading at a different point on the page than where I'm reading, et cetera).
Celeste asks, "Is it as long as a hound's bark?", which I thought was a pretty neat simile. It turns out she'd actually said "hound's back," which is nice, but not as poetic of a phrase.
I suggest that it might be too long of a chapter to read right now (we'd already read about 10 pages ... and she likes to interrupt, ask questions, start reading at a different point on the page than where I'm reading, et cetera).
Celeste asks, "Is it as long as a hound's bark?", which I thought was a pretty neat simile. It turns out she'd actually said "hound's back," which is nice, but not as poetic of a phrase.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
"In the unlikely event of a water landing"
On the last few flights Celeste has taken, she has spent a goodly portion of the time in the air reading over the aircraft safety card. Back in March, when we flew to Louisiana for a wedding, she kept wanting Evelin to turn the pictures of people sliding out of the plane and putting on lifejackets into stories. On our pre-Christmas visit in December, Celeste just pored over the card for at least half the flight.
Evelin and I were talking about U.S. Airways Flight 1549 and Celeste started asking questions. "Were those people wearing their lifejackets?" Evelin said that most of them were, but she saw some people on TV who didn't wear them. "Oh, did they use their seats?"
I'm impressed she remembered that you can use your seat cushion as a flotation device …
Evelin and I were talking about U.S. Airways Flight 1549 and Celeste started asking questions. "Were those people wearing their lifejackets?" Evelin said that most of them were, but she saw some people on TV who didn't wear them. "Oh, did they use their seats?"
I'm impressed she remembered that you can use your seat cushion as a flotation device …
Monday, October 20, 2008
Know It All
Celeste's been doing very well with her speech therapy, when she's focused and motivated, she gets it and does what she needs to do. She's also increasing catching mispronunciations in her day-to-day speech and correcting herself.
Tonight, as we were going through her latest worksheet, she was stumbling over the white–write pair. Quinn was talking, Evelin was unloading the dishwasher, and I wasn't sure if I was just not hearing Celeste quite right or not, so we skipped that pair and finished the sheet.
In a quiet moment, we went back to white–write. She was saying the 'hw in white well, but I couldn't figure out how she was saying "write." I tried correcting her and she just gave a little smile and said: "That's how Ms. L--- says it, but she doesn't know it starts with a w."
Tonight, as we were going through her latest worksheet, she was stumbling over the white–write pair. Quinn was talking, Evelin was unloading the dishwasher, and I wasn't sure if I was just not hearing Celeste quite right or not, so we skipped that pair and finished the sheet.
In a quiet moment, we went back to white–write. She was saying the 'hw in white well, but I couldn't figure out how she was saying "write." I tried correcting her and she just gave a little smile and said: "That's how Ms. L--- says it, but she doesn't know it starts with a w."
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Congratulations to Ikea ...
... for creating realistic living spaces in its showrooms that invite you to loose your sense of place and to imagine that you too can live in a nicely organized home with clean lines, Swedish books (which I’m still a bit perturbed aren't actually for sale), and creative use of color and patterns.
Of course there are indications that some two-year-olds might become a little confused when they turn a corner, find a nicely appointed bathroom complete with a Lättsam, and get the feeling.
Fortunately, the ever aware father who was looking at the kitchen cabinets around said corner, made it into the bathroom before any "business" was completed.
Of course there are indications that some two-year-olds might become a little confused when they turn a corner, find a nicely appointed bathroom complete with a Lättsam, and get the feeling.
Fortunately, the ever aware father who was looking at the kitchen cabinets around said corner, made it into the bathroom before any "business" was completed.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Gesundheit!
Those who know me have probably heard one of my sneezes. They tend to be loud and violent. I actually hit my head on my desk once as my body contorted in a sneeze — maybe it happened more than once ... the head blows may have caused some memory loss.
Last week, I was helping Quinn with her shoes and was struck with a sneeze fit. Quinn, horrified, turned and told me very sternly: "Daddy! No sneeze. No sneeze on me."
I apologized profusely and she forgave me. But she didn't forget. Later that afternoon, I got a Kleenex-brand facial tissue and blew my nose. Quinn ran over: "Good job, Daddy! You used a tissue!"
Last week, I was helping Quinn with her shoes and was struck with a sneeze fit. Quinn, horrified, turned and told me very sternly: "Daddy! No sneeze. No sneeze on me."
I apologized profusely and she forgave me. But she didn't forget. Later that afternoon, I got a Kleenex-brand facial tissue and blew my nose. Quinn ran over: "Good job, Daddy! You used a tissue!"
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Happy Birthday, Kiddo!
Four years ago, I really should have changed the name of this blog to "Life's Changed." After all that time's passed, I have a ton of memories, tons of sleepless nights, and a little sister for the girl who made me a daddy. Now, she's working on taking lots of pictures for us ...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Giddyup, Buckaroo
About four-and-a-half years ago, Evelin and I took a drive up to Gettysburg for no particular reason. Among the things we encountered on that trip was a sign for the Land of Little Horses. As I blogged back then: "I think I'd feel a little less silly asking for two adult admissions to a place like that if I could at least pretend that my 3-, 4-, or 5-year-old was the one who wanted to go...."
Quinn's two; Celeste is four in a few short days. This afternoon we went.
If pressed, I might say it was a little less than what I expected, but it still was fun.
In a lot of ways, it was a total tourist trap, complete with a gift shop you have to pass through on the way in and the way out. However, it was great with the girls.
Celeste never once did her "I only like dogs" routine; she was very excited and interested in getting up close, petting and feeding the animals. Quinn was a bit warier, especially as she grew more tired, but she loved the sheep and goats, as well as the horses. The only bad bit for her was when she was scratched by a cat — she was trying to feed it one of the alfalfa pellets all the other animals ate; apparently the cat didn't like it.
Neither girl wanted to take a pony ride, but they both loved the little playground and both were very interested in the arena show, especially since I'd tipped them off to the dog race portion of the show. Both girls were getting squirmy and tired, so we cut out before the show ended — during the ciphering horse routine — which lead to screams and tears from the girls. Both of them were asleep before we got out of Pennsylvania.
Quinn's two; Celeste is four in a few short days. This afternoon we went.
If pressed, I might say it was a little less than what I expected, but it still was fun.
In a lot of ways, it was a total tourist trap, complete with a gift shop you have to pass through on the way in and the way out. However, it was great with the girls.
Celeste never once did her "I only like dogs" routine; she was very excited and interested in getting up close, petting and feeding the animals. Quinn was a bit warier, especially as she grew more tired, but she loved the sheep and goats, as well as the horses. The only bad bit for her was when she was scratched by a cat — she was trying to feed it one of the alfalfa pellets all the other animals ate; apparently the cat didn't like it.
Neither girl wanted to take a pony ride, but they both loved the little playground and both were very interested in the arena show, especially since I'd tipped them off to the dog race portion of the show. Both girls were getting squirmy and tired, so we cut out before the show ended — during the ciphering horse routine — which lead to screams and tears from the girls. Both of them were asleep before we got out of Pennsylvania.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Beagles Are Short
Celeste has been told we can get her long desired dog once Quinn is potty trained. This afternoon while coloring and having a snack, Celeste tells me that Quinn had an accident at summer camp. She then turned to her sister and said with a firm voice, and a slightly sad tone, "You need to be potty trained, 'cause we really need a puppy."
She then revised and extended her statement, saying we should get a puppy for each member of the family. Then she suggested we get two beagles for each of us. I had her count up the total number of beagles — 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8 — and, when reminded, she saw that that was one more puppy than in Too Many Puppies.
Not to be deterred, though, Celeste countered that "beagles get old and die soon," thinking of a neighborhood dog who passed earlier in the year. I pointed out that Berry had been 14 years old, ten years older than she is.
Celeste’s response: "Goodness gracious, but she was short!"
She then revised and extended her statement, saying we should get a puppy for each member of the family. Then she suggested we get two beagles for each of us. I had her count up the total number of beagles — 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8 — and, when reminded, she saw that that was one more puppy than in Too Many Puppies.
Not to be deterred, though, Celeste countered that "beagles get old and die soon," thinking of a neighborhood dog who passed earlier in the year. I pointed out that Berry had been 14 years old, ten years older than she is.
Celeste’s response: "Goodness gracious, but she was short!"
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
You have received a Multimedia Message
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Addendum
My 1,000th post, months after last posting and it's an accidental picture message to myself ... oy.
I really should try to get back to the blogging ... maybe make a fresh start at it ...
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Thanksgiving 2007
Celeste wasn't too keen on the Thanksgiving festivities at my cousin's this afternoon. Soon after we arrived, she was sulking around my legs and saying she wanted to go home. Eventually she warmed up to some of her second cousins' toys and a big block of stilton.
A bit later, however, she ran over crying about a noise. It might have been a passing plane or something on the street or ... we're not sure what. No one else heard it, but it upset Celeste. After a little talking she calmed down and went back to playing. (Quinn throughout all of this was very busy with various toys and meeting people.)
We made it through dinner — Quinn had a good meal; Celeste mostly ate cranberry sauce, cornbread, and butter — and when ice cream popped up for dessert, Celeste said "Maybe that noise was my stomach. Maybe it was hungry for ice cream."
A bit later, however, she ran over crying about a noise. It might have been a passing plane or something on the street or ... we're not sure what. No one else heard it, but it upset Celeste. After a little talking she calmed down and went back to playing. (Quinn throughout all of this was very busy with various toys and meeting people.)
We made it through dinner — Quinn had a good meal; Celeste mostly ate cranberry sauce, cornbread, and butter — and when ice cream popped up for dessert, Celeste said "Maybe that noise was my stomach. Maybe it was hungry for ice cream."
Friday, October 19, 2007
It Wasn't Me
When I saw "Overheard in D.C." today, I had to stop and wonder if I'd ever ridden on a Circulator Bus with Celeste:
Last friday on the DC Circulator Bus, around Washington Circle/Pennsylvania Avenue:
A 3 or 4 year old girl is sitting with her father, commenting on what she sees out of the window. All of a sudden, apropos of nothing, she suddenly announces in a loud voice: "I just want to go CRAZY today, and buy new puppy clothes!"
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Science Without a Nap
This afternoon, Celeste and Quinn both took turns participating in an infant study at the University of Maryland, but it probably would have gone better had they had naps.
Backing things up a little bit, around 2:45 a.m. this morning, I half-awoke to a crying Quinn. Next to me was an exhausted Evelin. I'd thought Evelin was just going to finish up some work and then come to bed, but it turns out she'd been up to about 2:00 a.m. with Quinn. (When I fell asleep, the Sox were still up 2–1, and I was enjoying my new little Sony Walkman SRF-M37V, which manages to pull in WTIC(AM) and thus the Sawx-side commentary for games ... why didn't I have this for the first part of the season?)
I got up and took Quinn downstairs, where she slept fitfully on me until around 4:30 a.m., at which point I transitioned her back into her bed, and decided that I'd try to work from home as much as possible today so that we could try to get her to the doctor.
She's had a little cough for two weeks or so now, and her nose has been really runny. When I checked on Tuesday, she wasn't running a fever, but it has made sleeping pretty uncomfortable for her. Before Maine, she spend a night or two sleeping in her carseat, to have in a more upright position, and she's napped in that most of today (as scattered and short as her naps have been). Evelin took her in to the doctor's and he said her ears and throat look clear and that it's probably teething; we can give her a little Benadryl to try and dry her out to help her sleep, and we'll probably try that tonight.
So, since I was taking the day off, I started in on my e-mail and other work after I came back downstairs. I had about an hour before Celeste woke up, and then Quinn was up not too later than that. I managed to get some breakfast and playtime in before Evelin woke up and came down.
Since Evelin was taking Quinn to the doctor, I took Celeste to playgroup around 9:30 a.m. It's a lot busier this session compared to back in April, which was the last time I'd gone. There must have been ten or more kids there, some that I knew, a few I'd seen around, and a couple who were strangers. Celeste did have fun, however, both in playgroup and then later on the playground.
Once we got home, it was lunchtime followed by an attempt at napping ... which went really poorly and ended up with both girls awake and downstairs by 2:00 p.m. At this point, Evelin was hiding in the bedroom trying to get some work done and I was trying to get things together for the 3:30 p.m. appointment at the Language Development Laboratory. With neither girl having napped, I guess it's no surprise that they both nodded off in the car on the way to College Park.
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Backing things up a little bit, around 2:45 a.m. this morning, I half-awoke to a crying Quinn. Next to me was an exhausted Evelin. I'd thought Evelin was just going to finish up some work and then come to bed, but it turns out she'd been up to about 2:00 a.m. with Quinn. (When I fell asleep, the Sox were still up 2–1, and I was enjoying my new little Sony Walkman SRF-M37V, which manages to pull in WTIC(AM) and thus the Sawx-side commentary for games ... why didn't I have this for the first part of the season?)
I got up and took Quinn downstairs, where she slept fitfully on me until around 4:30 a.m., at which point I transitioned her back into her bed, and decided that I'd try to work from home as much as possible today so that we could try to get her to the doctor.
She's had a little cough for two weeks or so now, and her nose has been really runny. When I checked on Tuesday, she wasn't running a fever, but it has made sleeping pretty uncomfortable for her. Before Maine, she spend a night or two sleeping in her carseat, to have in a more upright position, and she's napped in that most of today (as scattered and short as her naps have been). Evelin took her in to the doctor's and he said her ears and throat look clear and that it's probably teething; we can give her a little Benadryl to try and dry her out to help her sleep, and we'll probably try that tonight.
So, since I was taking the day off, I started in on my e-mail and other work after I came back downstairs. I had about an hour before Celeste woke up, and then Quinn was up not too later than that. I managed to get some breakfast and playtime in before Evelin woke up and came down.
Since Evelin was taking Quinn to the doctor, I took Celeste to playgroup around 9:30 a.m. It's a lot busier this session compared to back in April, which was the last time I'd gone. There must have been ten or more kids there, some that I knew, a few I'd seen around, and a couple who were strangers. Celeste did have fun, however, both in playgroup and then later on the playground.
Once we got home, it was lunchtime followed by an attempt at napping ... which went really poorly and ended up with both girls awake and downstairs by 2:00 p.m. At this point, Evelin was hiding in the bedroom trying to get some work done and I was trying to get things together for the 3:30 p.m. appointment at the Language Development Laboratory. With neither girl having napped, I guess it's no surprise that they both nodded off in the car on the way to College Park.
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Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Now She Is Three
Today is Celeste's third birthday, marking the beginning of some seriously undelayed lifechanges that continue to build day after day after day. It was a bit of a double-whammy for her today: She turned three and she had her first day of nursery school.
Both went pretty well. Evelin made her some cupcakes (the requested orange sponge cake recipe with royal icing) and this evening she received several dog-themed presents.
When Evelin dropped her off at school this morning, Celeste pretty much headed straight for the Play-Doh and never looked back. (That she arrived at the same time as T---, one of her friends, probably helped even if she didn't directly play with him.) When I picked her up in the afternoon, she was excited and talking a lot about what she'd done that day. The downside was that she had two accidents, so we have to bring more than the standard number of changes of clothes for her tomorrow.
[ASIDE: There's a ton of stuff I haven't blogged over the past year or so that makes writing this a bit disjointed, but in the interest of getting this tale onpaper pixels here's one from a month or three ago: Celeste and I were talking about the upcoming school year, and Celeste said she was going to take two classes. I asked her what she was planning to study, and she said, "Maybe I'll draw a dog."]
On the way to pick her up, I asked Quinn if she'd missed not having Celeste around this morning. There was a HUGE grin and a fairly loud "No! No!"
(From a few days ago when Celeste was a flower girl (or as she insisted flower puppy) at the as-of-yet-unblogged (at least by me) wedding of my brother-in-law.)
Both went pretty well. Evelin made her some cupcakes (the requested orange sponge cake recipe with royal icing) and this evening she received several dog-themed presents.
When Evelin dropped her off at school this morning, Celeste pretty much headed straight for the Play-Doh and never looked back. (That she arrived at the same time as T---, one of her friends, probably helped even if she didn't directly play with him.) When I picked her up in the afternoon, she was excited and talking a lot about what she'd done that day. The downside was that she had two accidents, so we have to bring more than the standard number of changes of clothes for her tomorrow.
[ASIDE: There's a ton of stuff I haven't blogged over the past year or so that makes writing this a bit disjointed, but in the interest of getting this tale on
On the way to pick her up, I asked Quinn if she'd missed not having Celeste around this morning. There was a HUGE grin and a fairly loud "No! No!"
(From a few days ago when Celeste was a flower girl (or as she insisted flower puppy) at the as-of-yet-unblogged (at least by me) wedding of my brother-in-law.)
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Have You Seen This Mascot?
If so, don't tell Celeste. This afternoon, we caught part of the second game in a double header between the Erie SeaWolves and the Bowie Baysox. It was Quinn's first ballgame, and Celeste's first since she was about 9 months old. Originally, the game was scheduled as a single game, but last night's game was suspended on account of rain in the third which meant the 2:00 p.m. start was shifted to 12:30 p.m. and, unfortunately, the "Bark in the Park" dog parade was a lot earlier than originally scheduled.
Still, there were many dogs for Celeste to pet and Quinn had fun. They both ate a lot of popcorn and the girls almost got to see a grand slam (we were petting some greyhounds at the time and missed it).
As we were leaving (in the bottom of the sixth inning), we paused to visit with some other dogs and Celeste caught sight of Louie, the Baysox's mascot. At first I thought she was excited (not that she has any idea of who Louie is or anything) because she was making a little "Oh!" noise. But then she put her hand up in front of the mouth and I realized she was shaking. Louie was waving to kids as he walked past and into a backstage area, and as soon as the door shut, Celeste grabbed me around the neck and burst into tears. She didn't look up until we were out in the parking lot.
We talked to her a little about mascots and Louie, but Celeste wanted nothing to do with it. After dinner we took a walk around the block and ran into some of Celeste's favorite neighborhood dogs. While talking with their owner, I mentioned the ballpark and Celeste said she didn't have fun and when she was asked why, she started crying again. Later, during her bath, Evelin mentioned going to a game next summer and Celeste was quick to nix the idea.
Quinn, I think, was more disturbed by the greyhound wearing a Baysox hat than by Louie, but I don't think she got a good view of the green guy.
Still, there were many dogs for Celeste to pet and Quinn had fun. They both ate a lot of popcorn and the girls almost got to see a grand slam (we were petting some greyhounds at the time and missed it).
As we were leaving (in the bottom of the sixth inning), we paused to visit with some other dogs and Celeste caught sight of Louie, the Baysox's mascot. At first I thought she was excited (not that she has any idea of who Louie is or anything) because she was making a little "Oh!" noise. But then she put her hand up in front of the mouth and I realized she was shaking. Louie was waving to kids as he walked past and into a backstage area, and as soon as the door shut, Celeste grabbed me around the neck and burst into tears. She didn't look up until we were out in the parking lot.
We talked to her a little about mascots and Louie, but Celeste wanted nothing to do with it. After dinner we took a walk around the block and ran into some of Celeste's favorite neighborhood dogs. While talking with their owner, I mentioned the ballpark and Celeste said she didn't have fun and when she was asked why, she started crying again. Later, during her bath, Evelin mentioned going to a game next summer and Celeste was quick to nix the idea.
Quinn, I think, was more disturbed by the greyhound wearing a Baysox hat than by Louie, but I don't think she got a good view of the green guy.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Natural Born Journalist
Celeste has a bit of the journalist in her: She is really good at recounting things that have gone on during the day (albeit sometimes confusing something that happened one afternoon vs. another or maybe confusing reality with something from a story she's read) and she loves finding out who people are and what they're doing. She often will point at someone — across the park, in line behind us at the grocery store, passing on the street — and ask "What his/her name?"
Often, we don't know the person she's referring to, so we've been encouraging Celeste to introduce herself and to ask the person she's interested in's name. Celeste has been very in to this game, although she often poises the question from 20 feet away and/or in some other manner that is sure to not get her an answer.
The thing is, however, lately she's not been running up to people and saying "Hi. My name is Celeste. What's your name?" ... no, instead she's been saying "Hi. My name is Zippity. What's your name?" (Except when we met Alejandro while on an "expotition" around the block last week, when, with a bit of prompting, I got her to say "Me llamo Celeste. ¿Como se llama?")
Often, we don't know the person she's referring to, so we've been encouraging Celeste to introduce herself and to ask the person she's interested in's name. Celeste has been very in to this game, although she often poises the question from 20 feet away and/or in some other manner that is sure to not get her an answer.
The thing is, however, lately she's not been running up to people and saying "Hi. My name is Celeste. What's your name?" ... no, instead she's been saying "Hi. My name is Zippity. What's your name?" (Except when we met Alejandro while on an "expotition" around the block last week, when, with a bit of prompting, I got her to say "Me llamo Celeste. ¿Como se llama?")
Monday, July 16, 2007
Dogs for the Arts
A few weeks ago, the local park had it's annual "Dogs for the Arts" day. They had a dog-and-owner look-alike contest, paw painting, and a few other events ... and a lot of dogs. Given that Celeste has decided a while ago that we are all dogs — if you refer to her as a little girl, she corrects you, "little puppy!"; or if you ask her to wash her hands, she responds, "no, paws!"; and everyone has or puppy appended to their name, for instance I am now "Daddy Dog" — there was no way we were missing this event.Celeste did not disappoint, running around gleefully asking if she could pet all the dogs and often ending up giving them hugs. Last week, the local monthly city newspaper arrived and there was Celeste in an uncaptioned picture poised to strike [PDF of the full article].
The other thing about Celeste being a dog is that her name is now Zippity. A little while back, Evelin checked out Some Dog from the library. Pretty soon thereafter, Celeste identified herself with the little dog Zippity. She also started insisting that Quinn be called George, after the big dog in the story. Worryingly, as one friend noted, "George" is a nickname that could stick.
This matches up with Celeste insisting that she's a little sister, and generally resisting being identified as being "big." For a while, she would insist she couldn't be big because she couldn't touch the ceiling. Also, in her mind, big/little seemed to be a sex-linked trait: Pretty much all males were "big" and all females were "little." That's changed somewhat, and now Evelin is considered "mid-sized" by Celeste. I have no idea what any of this means, but it's pretty funny to be in one room talking to Quinn and telling her what a big girl she is, and then starting to correct myself to say "little girl" but before I can do so Celeste calls out from the other room "No! George is a little puppy."
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