nana howwwwww!

violet loves going to nana's house. to say she's obsessed isn't an understatement. everyday she talks about three things without fail.

1) "nana howwww. vivi go. go now!"
2) "go tain. vivi ride. ride now!"
3) "ama tuck. see. go park. go now!"

train rides, seeing the ice cream truck at the park, and nana's house. that's the good life for violet. what's amazing to me is that she's totally onto our deflections. later, tomorrow, soon, this weekend, next weekend, next month, this summer. she knows those phrases are her cue to respond "now!" of course when it's us saying "now" (diaper, car, bedtime), she knows that's her cue for "no!"

it's also amazing to watch her sense of humor continue to develop. if we respond to something with "that's silly" in a laughing tone, she'll often realize that she's told a joke. she'll smile with a twinkle in her eye and tell it again. she remembers them too.

sample dialogue:

v: dog tain. ride.
me: that's silly! dogs don't ride trains.
v (giggling): no! roo tain. pe-e tain. ride now.
me: rudy can't ride the train! petey can't ride the train! only people ride the train.
(of course sometimes the joke can't be sustained.)
v (suddenly pissed): no! dog tain! ride now!
(a fire truck passes her car window, saving me from an angry meltdown)
v (entranced): want fi tuck. tuck come back. ride now. vivi ride tuck.
me: that's silly! you can't ride the fire truck. the fire truck is going to the emergency.
v: vivi go mergen-c. go now.

another recent favorite:

v (at a traffic light): red!
me: that's right. red means stop.
v (with a sly grin): red go. geen stop.
me: that's silly! red means stop and green means go.
v (suddenly pissed): no! geen stop. red go.
me: you're not going to do well in sexual harassment training.
v (indignant): GEEN STOP! RED GO!
(grimly resigned to my fate, i turn the ipod to "5 little monkeys")
v: ...
(47 seconds later the song ends)
v: mo' monk song.
(47 seconds later the song ends)
v: 'gain. mo' monk song.

i love the abrupt turns from hilarity to rage. she inherited the soul of comedy from her dada.

kevin, however, has a lower tolerance for performance than even me, and so far violet doesn't mind being the center of attention. which brings us to these belated easter pics from our belated easter celebration at nana howwww. a dozen doting adults, one delighted toddler.

although violet enjoyed nana's feast, along with the "chicks" made by cuzzy kristy

naturally she was on the hunt for more.

what do you mean shell game? where's the f'n chocolate?

from rocking chairs made over a century ago:

to this:

 "siri, vivi want ama. want now."

still, nothing beats the fisher price farm, despite the mysterious disappearance of the farmer's wife. could that be the weight of guilt i see on kevin's eyelids?