Why is an elephant called "auchoo?"

Why is an elephant called auchoo (like the noise you make when you sneeze)? Believe it or not, it is logical to a 17 month old. Here is the reason I think Molly calls elephants “achoo.” Molly’s favorite DVD is Sesame Streets’ Kids Favorite Songs 2. The first song is “On Top of Spaghetti” sung by Snuffy (who looks a lot like an elephant). At the end of the song, Snuffy lets out a huge sneeze which sends his meatball flying. Hence, Molly has now associated a huge sneeze with Snuffy who looks like an elephant. Therefore, elephants must be called “auchoo.” Follow the logic? I think it’s actually pretty smart for a 17 month old!

My baby girl can swear!

I have another resolution, no more swearing in the car!! It would help if they would take all the idiotic drivers off of the road. The obsession with driving on my bumper is beyond me, but everyone seems to like it, especially if the driver has the world’s largest SUV, is killing the environment, and is talking on the cellphone while eating and yelling at the kids in the backseat! Anyway, Molly, aka The Parrot, repeats everything I say. Recently, I have been in the car twice and said “sh*t.” Apparently that word sounds good to a baby – good enough to repeat over and over again! Of course, I say it with anger and rage, but Molly says it with a great big smile on her face. Now who can I blame for teaching her to swear? I’m going to deny it from now on. My parents were here last weekend, they look good for the blame!

More evidence that Molly wants to be a cat!

I had to take my little cat, Scout, to the vet last night for a check up. I picked Molly up at daycare and then stopped by the house to get Scout. Scout meowed a couple of times when I put her in the car, but as I drove out of the driveway, the meowing intensified. The meowing got louder and was constant, only it wasn’t coming from Scout. No, it was coming from Molly who proceeded to meow the entire way to the vet’s office! She’s actually pretty good at meowing. Once we got to the office and were lead to an examination room, I let Scout out of the cage. She immediately jumped onto a low seat in the corner. Molly got a huge smile on her face (possibly realizing that for the first time, she had the cat cornered!) Scout actually was so scared that she allowed Molly to stroke her. Molly is very gentle, although sometimes she does try to stroke the fur in the wrong direction. However, after stroking Scout gently and lovingly, Molly discovered Scout’s tail. That looks like fun to pull! I had to put a stop to that immediately for poor Scout’s sake! We never did get to see the vet because an emergency happened right after I got there. So I am rescheduled for today – wonder who will meow on the way to the vet? It's now the next day and Scout returned to the vet (Molly was still in daycare so no meowing this time). Scout was prescribe Valium (to try and stop the peeing on my carpet). Before I got the prescription from the vet, I had to clarify that it would be in Scout's name, not mine. I was afraid that if I tried to adopt and there was a record that "I" had taken Valium, then I would be denied the right to adopt. I thought it might be difficult to explain to CCAA (Chinese Centre for Adoption Affairs) that the Valium was for the cat, not me!! Fortunately, the prescription is in Scout's name - so she will never be able to adopt from China, but I'm OK!