Bingo (and other stories)

Meredith never seemed to get particularly attached to any of her stuffed animals as a baby. I know some kids need a certain doll, toy, or blanket to fall asleep, but not her. Just something - anything- that is fuzzy and she can rub on her face will do.

This has, however, changed very recently. This week Meredith started spending more time carrying around a little stuffed dog that I got her a month or two ago, for 25 cents at the dollar store (yes, I shop the clearance bins at the dollar store). When we first got him, I tried to encourage her to name him, but had no luck. Besides things that already had names (like the ever-present Elmo) she hadn't ever named anything. When she got a baby doll for Christmas and we asked what the baby's name should be, she said "Meredith." Hmm. I tried to get her to call the dog "Husky" (you now know what the dog looks like) but it just didn't happen. He migrated to the bottom of the toy bin with so many other unnamed huggable creatures.

Then a couple of weeks ago I saw that she was playing with the dog. I asked what the dog's name was. She said "Bingo!". Well, isn't that something! She had known the tune to the Bingo song before, but it was always the version from her Christian preschool (which had completely different lyrics, culminating in J-E-S-U-S instead of B-I-N-G-O...or, in her case, "J-E-uh-uh-S"). However, I'd begun to hear her sing what sounded like the traditional version of the song about the dog named Bingo. I don't know where she learned it, but she definitely knew that Bingo was a dog, and apparently he was HER little toy Husky.

Bingo has now been joining us in the car sometimes, in the living room for playing with, at the dinner table occasionally to watch us eat, and in bed. Last night I put her in her bed (yes, bed! what a big girl!) and started to walk out as usual - she burst into tears and I went back over to her to find out what was going on. Through sobs, all she could say was "BINGO!!!". So I went and found him and brought him back. What a lucky little dog he is, to have a little girl love him so much.

In other news, Meredith is mastering all kinds of new songs, like the Zaccheus song and the B-I-B-L-E. I usually sing to her before bed - often a hymn - and she recently wanted a song about airplanes instead. I sang what I could think of...."Leavin' on a Jet Plane". She now LOVES this song and I am asked to sing it every night, and even sometimes before naptime. Thank you, John Denver and Peter, Paul, & Mary. Meredith also loves songs about angels, so if you have any ideas I would love to replace some the angel-related Christmas songs I am still singing in late February at her request.

Meredith also recently did something that seems to be a tradition in my family - she created a name for McDonald's that is not quite right. My brother used to call it "Mickey Donalds" as a kid, and my cousin called it "Uncle Mickey's". Meredith has joined their ranks with a declaration of "Old McDonald's!" whenever we drive past the golden arches. Let me note that I can count on one hand the number of times she has been inside a McDonald's, so for all I know, she is pretty sure that inside there is a cow, and a pig, and a sheep....

We are about 3 weeks away from the birth of the baby we will be adopting from Jacksonville! Watch this blog for details about him (he's a boy!) and for directions to a new yet-to-be-created blog that will chronicle the adventures of our new, larger family. Just as Meredith's role as complete center of attention must change, the blog that carries only her name - magnificent though it is - must also be retired.

Music, part 1

I have a series of great music-related photos and videos that I will be posting over the next month or two. Meredith is an avid music lover - she danced to "Raising Sand" (album by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant) from infancy, and has always liked drumming and Raffi. We introduced her to the piano early and she loves to play it - both the usual banging and also attempts at more varying tempos and styles with little individual fingers moving with some degree of intention.

Today I have two photos and a video for you.

The first photo is Meredith's earliest exposure to trying out a real guitar. Our then-housemate Chris was letting her play, and she loved it!


The second photo demonstrates that Meredith can turn absolutely anything into a microphone if it is of even remotely-similar shape (at our house this has include wooden sticks of all sizes, candles, etc.). This photo may be her most creative - it is the handle of an old victrola (antique wind-up record player). The "microphone" was barely accessible but she just couldn't help herself -- she had to get in there and sing for us.


Finally, the video below shows a remarkable discovery Meredith made - that she can play the violin! She had seen violins before (I guess the music teacher at her preschool plays one) and she started "bowing" with a stick on Rob's arm one day. He showed her how to bow on her own arm, and a star was born. The video is sort of long, but you get a lot of violin and singing action so I hope you'll enjoy it!