"Are you my mother?"

Our little girl is full of fun, and intelligence. She loves to sing, dance and read. One of Miriam's current favorite stories is “Are You My Mother?” No doubt Grandma Belland is happy about this, as this is book was (I believe) a gift from her, and she has recounted to me stories of when she read the book to her own daughter years ago.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the general plot, here's a quick summary. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!) Mama bird realizes that her baby bird will soon hatch, and, after hatching, he will undoubtedly be hungry. While away from her nest, Baby bird does hatch, and, to the wonder of the natural universe, he is born with the abilities to walk about and speak in complete sentences. Knowing that he must have a mother, it leaves the nest and searches the surrounding area for her.

The plot thickens as we realize that Baby bird does not know what Mother looks like. Traversing the local area, Baby bird asks a variety of different animals and objects whether or not any of them might be her mother. Some creatures look at Baby bird in surprise, while the objects (such as a boat or the remains of a post-collision Ford Pinto) can't respond at all. This vast array of specimens includes a cow, a chicken, an airplane, and a “"Snort!"”. At the end of the story Baby bird is happily reunited with his mother, joyfully proclaiming, "“You are not a cow. You are not a chicken. You are not an airplane or a Snort!. You are my mother."”

Recently, after chasing Miriam around the house, Greg hid on her. Genevieve would ask, "“Where's daddy?"” as she searched for me. When she finally found me she said, "“Daddy! You are not a tiger. You are not a lion. You are not an elephant. You are not a Kevin (our next door neighbor). You are a Daddy.”

Greg is quite happy that she didn't confuse him for an elephant--as neat as elephants may be. :)