bean the fashionista

i don't know where the bean gets her girlie fashion sense from - it ain't from me (although i'll admit to guilty tv pleasures like 'project runway') as anyone who knows me will testify (my own style is pretty much in the preppy-practical-jeans-&-tees category).

she is soooo into her "ballerina dress" i.e. any full-skirted dress that balloons out when she twirls and spins in it. and this must be worn with tights. she usually picks out her own outfits and she tries to match them colour-wise but the overall effect is still somewhat psychedelic.

today, she decided on blue and purple striped tights. then she said she wanted a blue ballerina dress to go with the blue in the tights. i offered 2 dresses and she picked a dark blue-almost purple dress, crying out delightedly, "this one! it's quite perfect!"

the nascent imelda bean
unfortunately (or fortunately) she doesn't have many fashionable shoes. she is very partial to a pair of white sandals with pink flowers and she usually insists on them especially if she's wearing a dress.

last weekend when we went to queensland, i only packed a pair of light green crocs for her. big mistake.

she was happy with the crocs for a (short) while as it has a nemo button attached but then she got bored with them and wanted to wear my shoes (i had taken a pair of silver ballet flats with me) instead.

then at the children's playground in the resort's grounds, she came upon a "little girl" (it doesn't matter if the girl is heaps bigger than her, it's still "little girl" to the bean) who was wearing a pair of keds-style flats - red with white polka dots and white toes. the bean immediately zoomed in on the girl and reverently said, "i like your shoes", while reaching out her hands to caress them.

thank goodness she doesn't have a thing for handbags yet.

who is a homo? (warning: non-p.c. post)

story #1: sweets r thicker than blood
we have just come home from a very short weekend away in the gold coast, queensland, with a couple of friends. the bean is very fond of this couple and "uncle jon" is always entertaining, although not always with age-appropriate speech and/or games.

on this trip uncle jon decided to tease dh by trying to get the bean to either say: "daddy is a homo" or "humpty daddy" (after humpty-dumpty). for 2 days the bean resisted jon's attempts at brainwashing, adamantly insisting, "noooooo. daddy not homo. it's not humpty daddy. it's humpty dumpty."

then over lunch on saturday, after she'd been egged about this for a while, the bean declared almost exasperatedly, "uncle jon is a homo!", making the entire table roar with laughter as we took in jon's redfaced chagrin.

to his credit, jon took this in his stride, although a bit later he did muse, "hmmm. how did i become the homo?" to which the half-dozen replies were in the vein of "you reap what you sow."

probably encouraged by the delighted response of everybody at the table (there were about 8 of us) the bean kept to her declaration and didn't waver...that is, till jon finally found a way to overcome this.

sunday. today. we were heading home. at an outdoor cafe of the gold coast airport. the bean had still been sure uncle jon was the homo. then jon took out a packet of jelly babies.

jon to the bean: would you like one?
bean immediately reached out her grubby fingers.
jon: who is the homo?
bean pointed to his wife. jon shook his head. the bean immediately pointed to dh.
jon: yeeeessss! well done! daddy is a homo! (and gave her the sweet)
bean: thank you uncle jon.
jon: you want another one?
bean stretched out her grubby hand again.
jon: what do you say?
bean: daddy is a homo!
dh: how easily loyalty is bought by sweets.
jon, in glee: sweets are thicker than blood obviously.

story #2: turn it off
when we were in the taxi going home from the airport, the bean entertained herself with a couple of her favourite nursery rhymes - 'ding dong bell' & 'sweetly sings the donkey' - tunelessly sung and lisped in places too (e.g. "sing" becomes "hing").

but as she became more engrossed by her own performance, the decibels started increasing. finally, both dh and i turned to the bean and softly went, "shhhh."

to which the bean quickly added, "too noisy. turn it off."

story #3: i told you
i cooked rice with carrots and ham for her dinner tonight and placed the dish on her little table as per usual. when the bean was finally persuaded to eat her dinner before watching "telly", she said, "i going to bring this to the big table."

i didn't really hear what she had said and only reacted when dh asked her, "honey, what are you doing?" - he'd noticed her carrying her bowl and was naturally a bit concerned.

our queries and admonishment made the bean indignant, and she said, "i bringing it to the big table! i told you!"

pop concerts for preschoolers

because it's the winter school holidays i had lined up a couple of concerts to bring the bean to: a playschool concert and a concert by justine clarke - pop star to the under 5s.

the playschool concert was hosted by 2 not so current presenters - alex and angela - although the bean should be familiar with angela from a couple of playschool dvds we own. it wasn't too bad - nursery rhymes and some skits were rehashed from old episodes and most of the children were well entertained. i say most, because the bean spent a large chunk of the concert being miserably snuggled against me. i don't know why she wasn't enthused. perhaps the auditorium was too big and airy; maybe cuz we were at the back and she couldn't see much of the stage; maybe she didn't like the crowds of kids and parents. who knows.

despite her seeming lack of enthusiasm for the concert itself, she did perk up at the merchandise counter. when i offered her a choice of jemima or humpty finger puppets, she picked humpty. angela and alex also signed a colouring book i'd bought the bean. i don't think she is as impressed now as she will be (i hope) when she is (much) older.

justine clarke in concert was a much more positive experience for the bean. as soon as the first chords of "i like to sing" were played the bean began spinning round and round* (almost non-stop), pausing only between songs. it's also a testament to her enjoyment of the concert that she was courageous enough to move away from me in order to get closer to the stage.

i did wonder if the bean would yell at justine "no, no, not that one" if she were to sing a not-so-favourite song (the bean's partial to 'the gumtree family' instead), but she was happy to just spin and twirl till she got dizzy.

unfortunately, when the show ended, justine didn't hang around to sign autographs although i did buy a concert souvenir - a t-shirt, which the bean later stained with orange juice.

back home, the bean was still pretty psyched about the show and insisted on watching justine's dvd. the ironic thing is that when it came to a song she didn't like on the video she did yell at the tv screen, "no! not that one! the other one! the other one!" - hmmm...where was her voice when she had the real justine in front of her eh?

* spinning till she stumbles from dizziness is the bean's idea of dancing

yes, sir & plops

for the past couple of days the bean has been responding to my demands or queries just like how a tank engine would to sir topham hatt (aka the fat controller from thomas & friends).

a few samples...

me: would you like some blueberries?
bean: yes suh!

me: do you want to poo on the big potty?
bean: yes suh! i try.

me: do you want some sushi?
bean: yes suh!

and yes, the bean has begun opting to do her #2s in the big potty now (it was her 2nd time this afternoon), so we are definitely 'seeing the light' at the end of our toilet training 'tunnel'. (if one is allowed such convoluted but strangely apt metaphors.)

and uh...she likes the sound the poo makes as it drops into the bowl - "plop!" "three plops, mama!"

i'm a little kitten

yeeeees (roll eyes), the bean does indeed think she is a little kitten. i have countered if she is instead a tiger cub or a teddy bear, but she unfailingly asserts her right to be "a little kitten".

i do find it amusing at times when she refers to herself in the third person/cat, as in "the little kitten still crying", "the little kitten is upset", "the little kitten is not feeling well"...etc. a couple of times she's also told me that, "i have pink whiskers!"

when dh or i asks how is the little kitten she invariably (if she is happy, playful) goes, "mee-ow!" and looks up smugly, just like a cat that's got the cream. she might then also try to lick our faces. most times these days it seems she's substituted kisses with licks anyway.

our feline visitor
anyhow, today we were again paid a visit by one of our neighbours' cats. (they sometimes drop by for a nosy wander round the house and a kindly scratch behind the ears.) naturally, this event delighted the bean no end.

she followed the cat wherever it moseyed and tried to converse with it, "cat just like ginger*. i show you." then she went off to get her toy to show this cat. later on, she told the cat, "that's big thomas**. see big thomas? come see." the cat, being a cat, was imperiously disdainful/dismissive of the bean's friendly overtures.

*ginger is one of the bean's stuffed toy cats.
** big thomas is actually a ride-along thomas the tank engine designed for toddlers. i had rented it this week from our local toy library.

non sequiturs

at bedtime, as the bean prattled to her daddy, her near-soliloquy went thus (spurred as it was by dh asking if she'd like a little brother or sister):

"i have a little cousin. his name matteo. there are two other cousins. edward and kwiffer. but not flo-flo and samuel."
dh had to interrupt her to say that florian and samuel are also her cousins. but this only waylaid her a smidgeon.
"there is a bell!", she pointed to a room decoration and segued into "ding dong bell, pussy's in the well. who put her in. little tommy thin. thomas and diesel 10! i dropped goldie*. little boy from the swimming class took it away!"

* her swim toy: a small, rotund yellow fish with big lips.

more classic phrases

some stuff the bean's been spouting/spouted recently:

1) "you are driving. don't talk." - this lecture was given as i tried to converse while driving her to school one day. talk about backseat driving!

2) "i don't eat this. it's nasty." - first time she used this line was in reference to bits of seaweed that was in her rice.

3) "haircherly" (for 'actually') - this adverb is sometimes misused in her speech but she does throw it out at least once a day.

4) "i seenk" (for 'i think') - e.g. "i like egg yolks. i seenk." (this statement is untrue actually as she balks each time i try to give her egg - in any form.) her pronunciation reminds me of that german/british advert with the deutsche ship's captain asking, "vat are you sinking?" of the british captain on the 'sinking' ship.

5) she was well pleased with the fit of her new swim goggles today and told me why: "it fits. it's perfect!"