A hilarious conversation

The other night, I was cooking, Josh was working on his computer, and Zoe was . . . well getting married and giving birth, apparently. Luckily, since Josh was at his computer, he was able to transcribe the hilariousness while it happened. I love this record of the exact way she says everything!


ZOE

I'm going to Jenifa's wedding. She's getting married.

JOSH

Who's Jenifa?

ZOE

My daughter.

We're going to her wedding.

She's marrying Elizabeth. A Boy.

Jaden. His name is Jaden.

I didn't get married yet.

I'm going to get married right now but--

We both need to get married right now.

RACHEL

Why don't you both go to college too?

ZOE

You have to go to college before you get married?

RACHEL

Yes, you do.

ZOE

Hmmm…we're going to go to college right now!

Zoe runs in her room and starts rummaging through dress up clothes

She shouts from the other room…

ZOE

I'm going to college!

She finds a ring and runs back in.

ZOE

I went to college.

RACHEL

What did you study?

ZOE

I wanted to be a mom and a doctor and this is my wedding ring.

Let's dance because, turn on some music because, I want to dance because I want to have a wedding!

JOSH

Hold on just a second.

ZOE

Come on dad, I just want to get married!

Then Josh and Zoe faux swing dance to Frank Sinatra's Fly Me to the Moon. Nico joins in on Almost Like Being In Love. Then, Josh and Zoe exchanged rings.

ZOE

We got married, right?

JOSH

Right.

ZOE

Is there is a baby in my tummy?

JOSH

No!

ZOE

But it's still in heaven, right? Because I need some milk.

Zoe goes into her room and gets a stuffed animal wrapped in a bandana.

ZOE

This is my baby. Her name is Limba. She's a girl.

A few minutes pass. Zoe brings the stuffed animal to Josh.

ZOE

Could you hold the baby because I am tired of being married. I can't do everything. I'm pregnant. I am so tired.

Zoe walks up to Rachel.

ZOE

I'm pregnant to dad.

JOSH

Would you stop talking about being pregnant.

ZOE

Why?

JOSH

That's for adults.

ZOE

But I am a dolt. Because I'm a mom. And I got married.

Josh gets a kick out of the "dolt because I'm a Mom" line.

Zoe walks up to Josh.

ZOE

It's okay. We're married. Keep it focused.

The cutest cowboy in the west

Bangs from the 80s

I recently reverted to the hairstyle I had in 1985. Zoë is fascinated by my newly cut bangs. She thinks I brushed them into existence and repeatedly wonders about their permanence. She keeps asking whether they'll still be there the next day. Upon waking this morning, she asked:

"Are your bangs dead?!"

(After looking in the mirror, I decided that was an apt question.)

The CD player in her room broke a little while ago. Actually, the passive voice is all wrong there--Nico actively broke the CD player by opening it, fiddling with it, and climbing on it at every opportunity (we should have put it out of his reach, but there are limited options in that room). Anyway, the point is that Josh has been substituting Zoë's nighttime CDs with her favorite playlist on his iPod: 80s.

Hence, her second question this morning:

"Were you in the 80s?"

"Yes, I was born in the 80s."

"You were born in the 80s?!"

"Yeah, in 1981."

"Did your mom take you there? Where was it?"

"No, it was a time period."

"Oh, they just played the music when you were getting born?"

Considering the fact that my parents' response to The Wedding Singer was "that movie looked kind of old or something," I think it's safe to say that they definitely weren't playing music of the 80s--a decade they somehow skipped--at my birth.


On second thought, maybe the 80s are a place, a place where my bangs have been resurrected (thanks to a shower and blow dry) and the music that was not played at my birth lulls (rocks?) my daughter to sleep at night. More importantly, this house feels a lot like the one I inhabited during that decade--small, cozy, and filled with four people struggling, growing, and ultimately enjoying the space they share together.