the Audrey-ism

Audrey is 3 1/2 going on some age of divine wisdom. Nothing gets past her. She is very quick and funny. I have this little black book that I carry around with me everywhere. In it, I have a picture of my brother Luke. Some how, Audrey got a hold of it and was flipping through the pages. When she came to Luke's picture, she stopped, stared and then said, "well, he is quite lovely himself".

Last week, we were walking to her preschool and fog was everywhere. "Why are the clouds down here?" she asked me. How do you explain to a three year old the science of fog? You don't, you can't, so you just make something up (at least that is what I do).

"Last night, the clouds, the clouds... they were playing, yeah playing - A LOT! And now they are so sleepy, and so they are resting here on the ground until they are ready to back up to the sky"

After a long pause she said, "Did you just make that story up?"
"Well, yeah..." I replied, slowly, trying not to let her know that I was laughing.

It is hard to predict what Audrey will say or do next. "Woof! Woof!" It has been a week now, and Audrey is still a dog. She occasionally turns into other things like a princess or beaver. Two nights ago she was the Mama Fish and I was the Baby Fish. As I gave her a bath she showered me (no pun intended) with what she liked to call "Fishy kisses". She would pucker her lips up real tight and squiggle through the water until she POPPED out to give me a very sloppy, fishy kiss. When I got her out of the bath she turned into a beaver hiding under a rock, and when I "found" her, she popped up, dancing around her bedroom naked singing, "i'm da mama fish, your da baby fish, i'm da mama fish, your da baby fish".

Being heard is very important to Audrey and she will make sure that you hear EVERYTHING that she has to say, which means that if you don't answer her right away, she will repeat it over and over and over and over and over and... so when she says something like, "I'm da pwincess wite". You have reply right away, or it will turn into something like this:

Audrey: "I'm da pwincess wite? the pwincess? yeah, me, I'm da Pwincess, I'm da one wite? THE PWINCESS - IT ME WITE? YEAH? ME? THE PWINCESS IS............."
everyone: "YES! YES, AUDREY- YOU, YOU ARE THE PRINCESS."

Audrey: (with a big smile on her face) "Yeah, i'm da pwincess. I AM DA PAW-WIN-CESS!"

Last night, after her bath, Audrey walked into the kitchen wearing a pair of sunglasses- upside down. She had a big blanket dragging behind her as she pushed her baby doll in its stroller. She was talking to the baby as she walked into the kitchen, "welcome to am-ewicka, i will be wite back". She left for a few seconds, only return with more blankets, some plastic jewelry and a purse.

I really do wonder what she is going to do when she gets older. When you ask her, "hey Audrey what do you want to be when you grow up?" she looks at you like you are an idiot and says, "well, i'm dunna be big!" An answer like that, is a typical Audrey-ism.

She is endearing, honest, sassy and sweet. I am happy when I get to spend time with her. There is NEVER, EVER A DULL MOMENT!

"I am actually quite impwessive" she said, as she pretended to take pictures of Maddy with my camera.