Sunday, October 4, 2009

Maisie Funnies

I think that I was such a bad blogger that no one reads this anymore (understandable!) but I am still going to update so that I can remember the funny things Maisie does.

Her latest funny phrase is "cheese toast." My baby loves cheese, and my baby loves toast, so it makes sense that she would love cheese toast. What's funny, though, is that she loves saying "cheese toast" as much as she loves eating it. Last week one day, as she was eating it, she started saying, "Cheeese toast, cheeese toast." She has a particular intonation and it kind of sounds like CHEE toes, CHEE toes. She grins as widely as she can and laughs when I start to laugh. Well, this afternoon we were driving home from a church retreat weekend and Maisie should have been napping. I was surprised she was awake, but she was only barely awake... gazing out of the window dreamily. I was flipping through a magazine when I heard her start to chant, "CHEE toes, CHEE toes." I burst out laughing and said, "Maisie, are you daydreaming about cheese toast?" She just grinned and laughed and said, "CHEE toes," "CHEE toes!" When we got home and made her a piece of cheese toast, she was beyond delighted. I can tell that as much of the joy comes from talking about it and being understood as actually eating it.

She's also really into trying to do things herself, or pretending to do adult things. For example, if she sees a hair brush, she tries to brush her hair, or tries to brush my hair, or pretends to brush her doll's hair. Ditto toothbrush -- she loves to try to brush her teeth. She also takes the washcloth and washes her rubber duck in the bathtub, tries to feed Elmo or pretend to give him a sip of water out of a straw, and pretends to answer the phone. That last one was hilarious this weekend. We had to unplug the phone in our room at the inn where we were staying because all Maisie wanted to do was pick up the phone, say, "'LO?" and hang it back up. "'LO? 'LO?" And if you do happen to be on a real phone call when Maisie is around, when you say "hello," she'll turn around and yell, "HI!" and start waving, and when you finish the conversation, she'll yell, "BYE! BYE!" and wave some more.

She knows more body parts, I think -- she will tell you where her hands and her knees are, in addition to head, hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, bellybutton, and toes. She also understands that we all have noses, and will point at her baby doll's nose or Elmo's nose and say "no." "Nose" sounds like "no," but you can tell which she means because if she's saying no, she gets a funny mean look on her face and shakes her finger back and forth. "No no no," she says.

She has a couple of new favorite songs, too, and she knows them well enough that she really gets into them. She knows I always clap during the drum parts in the Avett Brothers' "Kick Drum Heart," and she will clap too. Not at precisely the right time or in the right rhythm, but it's the effort that counts. We sing a funny song by They Might be Giants called "Seven Days of the Week" and I have made up silly and obvious motions to go along with it, and she will do all of them with me as we listen to the song (mostly shaking her head, shaking her finger "no no," pointing to her head, and throwing her arms up). I might be embarrassed to admit that she also now sings "yeah yeah yeah" along with Miley Cyrus's "Party in the U.S.A." As our friend Will has commented before, I listen to a lot of really crappy music when Jake isn't around. (I don't mean you, Avetts!) Anyway, she also nods her head at the appropriate line in the Miley Cyrus song, and throws her hands in the air. Must get video.

4 comments:

Shannon Millsaps said...

I am still reading your blog! It keeps me updated!

Elizabeth said...

I read it! Love the updates, Maisie is absolutely adorable!

Unknown said...

I still read your blog and CANNOT wait to see the Maisie Party in the USA video!!

Jaimes said...

Hi Emilie! Thank you for the email--I can't facebook at work. Yes, I am moving. I lived on the square for 3 and a half years--I'm getting a townhouse now. I'm excited.

Maisie is so cute and I enjoy reading the blog! Take care!
Jaime