Mr Bean and the Falling Down Show
We went out to the shops yesterday to get a few things (including lunch). As we were getting in the car to come home, Zoë looked up at me and said, "We go home now. Tonight we can watch Mr Bean on the Falling Down Show!"
And when the Falling Down Show came on (note: that's Australia's Funniest Home Videos, which Zoë dubbed "the falling down show" and we liked that name better and so call it that now), it did, indeed, have a spot with Mr Bean in it, somewhat to my surprise.
I suspect that Zoë saw an advertisement for the show that mentioned Mr Bean (who she loves), and she remembered it. She also obviously knows that it's on Saturday evening, and knew that yesterday was Saturday.
I'm not surprised she knew what day it was. Days go in predictable, regular cycles, and Zoë's good at that. I'm also not surprised that she remembered that Mr Bean was going to be on the show. She's got a good memory for things she'd like to see (she always knows when the new animated movies are coming out, and reminds us constantly that we need to go see them!). I am somewhat suprised that she was able to articulate her thoughts that clearly, and that she did it in the carpark as we were going home, but in context it makes perfect sense.
It's great to see and hear her able to express her thoughts like that, even if it is about a show I personally don't like much (okay, I like the animal clips sometimes, so long as nobody's getting hurt), and about a character I like even less. If she's happy watching Mr Bean on the Falling Down Show and, better yet, talking about it, I'm going to let her! (Beside, there's nothing else on at that time of day on a Saturday; may as well let the kid have a laugh or two; I try to teach her that the ones where people get hurt are not actually funny, because I don't think they are, and while watching the show, I did hear her say, "Oh, no! Oww!" a couple of times, so the message is getting through...)
Water baby
Zoë is home from school today due to a Staff Development Day (or whatever they call those now). Miranda's at school, though, so I had Zoë walk with us this morning and then Zoë and I went to the pool. I was interested to see how well she swims, as she's been having swimming lessons through school for a bit over a year now.
She's not a graceful swimmer, nor a strong one, but, gosh, the girl is really game! She swam, with a pool noodle and keeping close to the edge of the pool, all the way to the deep end of an olympic sized pool, and then swam back! We also did some basic exercises on the bar at the side of the pool and then we went to the little "rock pool" they have there. It's a lovely little pool with natural contours and a smooth gravel finish and lovely warm water.
Eventually, I asked her if she was getting hungry and she said, "Yes. Swimming all done."
She was a real pleasure to have with me today. During upcoming Easter break I think I'll have to take her to the pool again!
Tooth Fairy
Zoë came home today and told me she had a wiggly tooth. I hadn't noticed this one previously, but she certainly did have a wiggly tooth, one of the pointy ones on either side of the two from lower incisors. She kept fiddling with it, and I had a look but couldn't get it out.
Over the course of the afternoon, she got a tissue and fiddled with it (and made it bleed and showed me "Look, blood onna tissue!"), then she got out the half an apple left over from her lunch and had a bite because she's got it in her head that eating green apples is good for wiggly teeth, and she got blood on the apple (and told me about that, too). She got herself a drink of milk, no doubt remembering that the last time she had a tooth come out we gave her milk to drink (it supposedly helps stop the bleeding). Eventually, she went in her room and came out a little while later shouting, "A tooth came out! Put it under pillow for tooth fairy!"
She managed to work the tooth out all on her own, and she was wonderfully proud of herself, too. I had her get the tooth (which was already under her pillow) and put it in an envelope (this makes finding it easier for the Tooth Fairy, you see), and she put that back under her pillow with much excitement and the knowledge that the Tooth Fairy is going to bring her "a coin" in exchange (and since in Australia we've got $1 and $2 coins, it might actually even be worth something!).
Pirates and Princesses
Zoë was invited to a birthday party, the first she's attended. It was a "pirates and princesses" theme, and she went as a princess, mostly because we already had the dressups for that and we didn't for being a pirate. We helped her pick out a present (a pink jewellery box with a sequined unicorn on the top) and she helped wrap it, and she carried it in very proudly.
Pretty much all the kids in her class were there, and all the boys were pirates (naturally) and all the other girls were princesses. The little girl whose party it was is named Chelsea, and Chelsea's mother was dressed as a pirate, however. When Zoë saw her she said, "Hello, Captain Chelseamum!" which Andrew and I both thought was quite good. We stayed for a little while and then when we were fairly sure she'd be okay, we left for a while and came back to pick her up when the party was over.
When we came to get her, she was in such a happy mood! She had butterflies painted on her face and a little bag of goodies (no chocolate, I was happy to note). She said thank you and goodbye to Chelsea and to Captain Chelseamum and then as we were leaving, she called out, "Bye! See you next March!"
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