orichalcum

In recent weeks, Mac has graduated up from sentences into actual narratives - of sorts. If you ask him a question like "What did you do today?" he will often respond by giving a present-tense version of his own reactions and statements to events that happened. Reconstructing the actual facts of the matter, especially if you weren't there - now that's the amusement and the challenge.



1. retsuko: "Did Santa Claus bring you any presents, Mac?"
Mac: I hung my stocking! Then chocolate penguins! Airplane - whoosh! - tree. Then I play puzzle! Yummy food really good. Cats! (retsuko didn't get all of this, but I was listening to what Mac said and can translate better).

Having been there on Christmas Day, I can offer the annotated, less Joycian version:
"I hung my stocking for Santa Claus. In the morning, there was a box of chocolate penguins inside it, and I ate a bunch! I opened up a red airplane ornament, which I really liked, and Daddy made it go whoosh, and then it got hung on the tree so it wouldn't get damaged. I also got an alphabet puzzle. We had goose and foie gras and parsnips and baked apples and stuffing and pie for dessert. There are two enormous cats here who I like, but they are scared of me."

2. Mac starts talking in the middle of the night, suddenly, during a bathroom visit: "Joshua! Joshua has green truck. I play green truck! Joshua! Give green truck! Miss Sidney! I sad. Joshua truck."

My best interpretation of this one is either that Mac took the truck from Joshua, causing in a tearful appeal to their teacher by Joshua, or that Mac himself appealed to higher authority when Joshua wouldn't give him the truck.

3. In the car yesterday, Mac suddenly said, as far as I could tell, "Muppet Caper!"
Me: "Did you like watching the Great Muppet Caper?"
Mac: Miss Piggy takes a shower! Then she dances! Gonzo and Kermit say "Cheese!" Then Miss Piggy drives a truck!"

In my textual interpretation, Mac's review of the film focused on the famous water ballet sequence, Gonzo's role as photographer, and Miss Piggy's theft and driving of a big rig in the next-to-last sequence of the movie. Alternatively, Mac found somehow the extended R-rated version of the film.



Some other amusing bits of dialogue from our road trip back from L.A. yesterday:
Mac: (singing) "Jingle Truck! Jingle Truck!"
Me: "Oh what fun, it is to ride, in a four-wheel open truck, hey?"
CP: "That wasn't the rhyme I was thinking of."

Mac: "Where's julianyap? I want to see julianyap! And ladybird97!"
Me: julianyap's in Singapore right now, very far away.
Mac: "Take plane see Julian?"
Me: "No, we can't do that. But soon, you're going to see jendaviswilson and redhound! And Finn!"
Mac: "Okay. I like Finn."

When we came home, he ran to the picture of friends from Gencon, and pointed out the people he knew, "There's Julian! And ladybird97! And Daddy! And mrmorse (actually xse99, but, well, they've both got curly brown hair)! And redhound (actually havenstone, a fairly reasonable confusion.) " Then he paused, upset. "Where's Mac-y?"
Trying to explain to him that there was no way he could have been in a photo from the summer of 1998 did not seem to go over well.