too meke

the kid had me in tears last night. howling blinding tears. of laughter that is, not the other! let me explain.

andrew and i were sitting on the couch having a rare wine (not seen often in our house - ahem), and amelia was wafting off to sleep on our bed - to be transferred later. a plaintive cry was heard, repeated at regular intervals: 'i need someone to come and hold me, i need someone to come and hold me.' i went and did the 'holding' as instructed, lying down and cuddling her. she wriggled around to face me, wrapped her arms around my neck, pulled back and stroked my face and said: 'i miss you mummy.' i replied 'but why, i am here with you.' she contemplated that for a moment, then asked: 'are you here with me?'. i said 'yes, you doofus', at which she giggled. 'i miss you mummy' she said again, ruffling my hair. i cuddled her a little more tightly and said 'when?' (getting the hang of it). she cogitated for another moment, and said, ever so mournfully, 'when you and daddy go to the movies'. for some reason this made ME giggle, something about the manner in which she said it and the facial expression that accompanied it. i said: 'really? what happens then?' 'katie holds me; katie has to hold me'. again, her expression kind of undid me, and i erupted into laughter, which she joined in with laughing at me rather than with me.

andrew came in to check, and she announced 'mummy's funny dad'.

he asked 'why is mummy funny?' (i was almost incapable by this moment - it had been a day of immense hilarity - THAT KID!)

'i said somefing to her dad, and now she's funny.'

'why is mummy laughing? he asked.

she looked at me, and gave me a little noogie on the top of the head, and said 'because she's a troll.'

well, that was it for andrew then as well, and we both ended up in tears as amelia looked on delightedly at the pair of us, kept rubbing my head, and repeating that i was a 'troll'. he then shamefully led her into investigating what KIND of troll i am, and the consensus was (stated firmly by amelia) that i am a 'stinky troll'. not long after that she was on the couch lying on me to go to sleep, something we both love happening. probably all sorts of discipline reasons for NOT allowing this, but hell - this stage is fleeting. a few years and we won't get a kiss goodbye out of her, so i am milking it for all i can get. plus, its going to come in handy for traveling - already has if we are out for dinner at someone's place and i can get her to sleep on my knee.

the photos are a tad fuzzy, but give you some idea of the gorgeous day we had last week at burleigh heads, our new home all going well. we have a hankering to be somewhere where we can walk to the beach . . . and this place is awesome. will keep you posted! while andrew and amelia were exploring the rock pools, we saw a pod of dolphins swimming lazily amongst some surfers only metres off shore - most awesome, altho i disgraced myself by looking up when i heard someone behind me say 'look, a whale', and seeing a large grey sleek shape curving itself back below a wave, and i too cried out 'look, a whale' while registering it that whales (orcas anyway) are not grey, don't have fins of that shape, and don't curve like dolphins . . . luckily andrew didn't hear me first time, so i was able to modify my cry to include 'dolphin' the next time.