"magnadoodle"

Josephine's burgeoning vocabulary skills have been a pretty steady source of amusement lately. I enjoy the spontaneous thoughts like, "Eeen go car see Jeeess (Jesus).... Saturday." (Anyone have a good way to explain to a two year old that it's quite unusual to actually see him? I try telling her he's here, and that's why we pray, but she responds by getting really curious and looking in closets and around the side of the bed. And another botched conversation left her thinking he was up in the trees with the squirrels, when I was just trying to explain she could tell him anything she was thinking about. Advice welcomed.)

Her recent fascination with Jesus aside, I also like her insistence that Dad is "silly" even when he isn't doing anything to deserve such mockery. I enjoy her concern over " 'ere MsssKarie go?" when our normal checkout lady wasn't at the grocery store this Tuesday, and how delighted she got recently when I told her I'd tell Beth she said Hi. ("Ba go car see Bess-- Eeen say HIII!!!") I enjoy all her excited sentences, even the ones that are so excited that half the words don't quite make it down the chute--- she pauses for them though, and then when the next word does come, she says that one-- and before you know it a whole sentence is out there! True Italian style, it is indeed part verbal, part gesturing, and part a family member knowing her well enough to know exactly what she means--- but sentences are there, nonetheless. And it's fun.

Recently we were at Book People and saw a little magnadoodle, which we bought her. I couldn't remember what they were called, so for the next several days, I referred to it as the "blue thing" and the "magnet drawing board." It has a little handle, though, so she likes to carry it around to stores, and I adore how it is a fully contained drawing apparatus-- so it does go with us everywhere. In one store recently, an employee exclaimed, "I LOVE MAGNADOODLES." And both Josephine and I had mild epiphanies where we simultaneously grasped The Word For The Beloved Object. For the next five minutes SOLID Josephine talked about her magnadoodle, practicing this amazing word. I repeated it back several times and talked to her about it... mostly because I wanted to draw out the conversation. Her version of "magnadoodle" makes me truly, truly laugh. Out of all her fun vocabulary, this is my favorite word to-date.

I hereby present... magdiddiluh.

Click on the underlined word to see the video, which was taken June 8.