Parties and so on
Well, I've been remiss (and busy!) so I'll do a big update now. This is just sort of stream-of-consciousness, and in no particular order.
Miranda came with us to choir practice twice (us being myself and her Nanna, the choir director, and on the second occasion, her dad, as well, since he was performing in a quartet for a special performance for the lessons and carols service). One of the choir members was hosting a luncheon after the lessons and carols service, and all the choir members were invited. She also specifically invited the two little girls and their dad (he was playing, after all, and he's the choir director's son), as well as my father-in-law.
Miranda informed me that "Glynnis invited us to lunch." I said that I knew that. Miranda then went on to say that, "That's you, Nanna, and me, because we're in the choir. But not Zoë or Grandpop, because they're not in the choir." We did tell her that Glynnis had, indeed invited all of us, but the important thing here is that Miranda was under the impression that because she'd been to choir practice twice (once she tried to follow along, once she mostly just played quietly), that she was a choir member.
On the subject of choirs, earlier this week Nanna was performing with another choir (she's not the director, just the accompanist), at the Queen Victoria Market. Miranda and I went along. Before I went to bed, I put out clothes for her, a pair of three-quarter length jeans with a pretty pink edge on the bottom, and an ESPRIT t-shirt (white, just says ESPRIT on it, hehe).
In the morning, she came into my room naked and said she needed clothes. I said, "I put out clothes for you, what happened to them?" Says Miss Miranda, "No, I need a pretty dress! It's the Tuesday Singers, it's special!" So I dragged myself out of bed (I wasn't fully awake and I'm not a graceful riser in any event) and got her a pretty blue and green plaid sundress that had just been laundered. I then went to do my morning things (clean teeth, shower, etc. etc.). When I came out, she was wearing yet another dress that she'd gone and gotten, one with embroidered butterflies on it!
At the kinder end-of-the-year party, Miranda played a shepherd in the Nativity play, and then she gave a violin recital. She played Jolly Old Saint Nicholas and Good King Wenseslas (which I always refer to as "Good King Whathisface", a joke she doesn't get but which I enjoy). She did very well, and got lots of positive comments from other parents and grandparents who were present. Miranda's teacher, who is retiring this year after twenty-one years of teaching at that pre-school, told us afterward that it was the first time in all her years of teaching that she'd ever had a student perform (well, face it, most four-year-old kids aren't able to play the violin or anything else well enough to do a recital).
And finally, I'll end this with a conversation with Miranda.
Miranda (looking at the t-shirt of her pyjamas): What does that say on my shirt?
Andrew: Dreams Can Come True. But they don't, really.
Miranda: Mine do.
Andrew: Do they? Like what?
Miranda: I had a really scary dream where everyone turned into pumpkins.
Andrew: And did that come true?
Miranda: No....
Andrew: Good thing, too.
Silkworm Caterpillars
At Miranda's preschool, they have some silkworm caterpillars. This weekend, we volunteered to bring them home to look after them. I admit I have a fondness for caterpillars for a variety of reasons, and I'm enjoying it as much as Miranda is. Well, perhaps not quite as much....
Earlier today, Miranda went and got one of her books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and read it to the silkworms. I watched quietly as she read to them, and she was reading and looking up now and then at them, presumably to make sure they were listening... (And yes, she really read the book to them, because she can really read.)
This afternoon she drew a picture of a caterpillar and wanted to show it to them. And she did.
I don't think they were impressed, but I was.
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