ponytails...

Snacking on the car after playing at Magnuson Park

So I am trying a new hair style of ponytails. Not so much because it is cute although it certainly ends up being pretty darn cute but more so because it seemed that it would keep her hair from getting tangled up so quickly. And it doesn't take too much effort and pain to do it.
She is pretending up a storm as usual. We can turn into monsters...she is the baby monster, I am the mama monster and Marvin is the grandpa monster. The other night when we were walking the dogs she was pretending to have an additional dog with her who she named Whistler. Then Barney Boy transformed into being Whistler. Now, sometimes both dogs at Whistler. Merlin Whistler and Barney Whistler.
She was trying to identify where Barney had bones and muscles the other day. He had bones in his legs and his other legs and his penis and his neck and his stomach!
She likes to ask about what's in it. "What's in it?" referring to her string cheese. "milk, enzymes, salt." "I am going to eat the milk in it. Is there pepper?" "Nope."
She is totally ready for her trip to West Africa. She talks about going there. She can explain that we have to go to German(y) first and then to Ghana. She asks if we can drive there but I let her know we can only drive to the airport and then we will have many airplane hours and hours. She is excited to go see Nawo, Christina and "her baby" Carmel. We have even checked out the globe a bit. And one time she seemed to point directly to the Ghana and Togo spot on the globe. I think it may have been a coincidence but I am not sure.
The other evening we were in the bookstore and she picked up this book and brought it to me and asked, "Can you read me In A Dark, Dark Room?" I was very stunned and confused. This was the name of the book, but we don't have that book! And I had never seen it and I asked if Grandma had ever read it to her in the store which she had not. I didn't think she was reading yet so I was truly baffled. I think I have figured it out now though.... she likes to look at the back of her books and see the pictures of the other books that the publisher is advertising for. She asks me what each book is and I read the titles to her. I think it must have been one of those little pictures of a book on one of her books and she just remembered what it looked like and what I told her it was called. Ah-ha!!!!