Emma on a Wednesday

We spent a LOT of time in the car today. All of these conversations/observations happened in our beloved Stella (ie, our Honda) while on the road.

• After some discussion, Em decides she would like to be a "nice cat" for Halloween, and she will wear all black with a tail, cat ears, drawn-on whiskers and nose, and painted black fingernails for "small claws, because I'm a nice cat and I don't scratch people." After some thought, Em also declares she needs "a bowl with soy milk in it so I can lick it on my four legs and say 'Meow! Trick or Treat! Give me some candy please!'"
• Apropos to nothing, Em breaks a rare moment of complete silence (ie, no baby babble) by shouting from the back seat, "Sophie's doing fine back here. She's just talking away." Then several more moments of silence, followed by, "You crack me up, Sophie. You really do."
  
• Em: "Knock knock." Me: "Who's there?" Em: "Caribou." Me: "Caribou who?" Em: "Caribou's coming to seeeeeeeeeee you."
• A car honks its horn and Em yells, "Stop that, lady! Stop that conkin' right now! Conkin' is rude!"
• Emma randomly asks, "Mommy, remember when we were in St. Louis and I turned 4 on my birthday and 3 cut off?" "Yes, I remember," I answer. Long pause, and then Em says softly, "Bye, 3."
• After debating who will carve a jack-o-lantern for us this year, Em says, "Daddy should do the jack-o-lantern, he's gooder at it. He's gooder at everything." "Better at everything than Mommy?" I ask. "Yes," Emma answers. "Except toenails."
• Emma asks if she can be a mermaid, and I tell her she can for pretend but not for real. "Why not?" she demands. "Because in real life little girls can't turn into mermaids, just like they can't turn into cats or monkeys or spiders," I explain. "But In Little Mermaid they maked her legs, so why can't I get maked into a mermaid?" she asks. I go on about Little Mermaid being a cartoon, not real life, and say again that she can pretend to be a mermaid, but she can't really be a mermaid. "Yes I can," she insists. "We just need a magic wand." "Fine," I reply. "If you find a magic wand that works for real and can turn you into a mermaid, then let me know." "Okay," she says. "I have an idea. Let's go get one at Target."