Max said no

So there's a line in Where the Wild Things Are where Max decides that he's going to leave the place where the wild things are and they (the wild things) say "Please don't go, we'll eat you up we love you so!" and then Max said "no" and sailed away.

Well.

Claire loves that book and though we've not been reading it all that much lately, that line in particular appeals to her and it has become what she says on occasion if we are leaving and she doesn't want us to, or if we are talking about putting something away and she doesn't want us to.

It goes a little something like this:

I'm in bed next to Claire, getting ready to get her down at night and Mike asks for a hug and kiss.  She says no (she is playing hard to get here) so he says "alright baby, good night" (or something like that) and goes to leave the room.  Claire then realizes he is actually going to leave and says "please don't go I'll eat you up I love you so max said no".   With the words all mushed up together.

It makes me melt.

Sometimes she'll say it if she's being a bit rough with something and I go to put that something away.  Or the time I pretended I was going to leave without her because she wouldn't get in the car and it was time to go and she was pitching a fit about getting in the car.  I admit, that wasn't the nicest thing to do.  And I only backed the car a little ways down the drive, but still....... I'm kinda cringing sharing that.  But that's something everyone does, right?  The whole "okay, I'm going now, bye!" thing?

Anyway.  I LOVE when she says it.  It truly makes me want to just eat her up.



That, and just this weekend she has started telling me stories.  (what?!?)  Mike has been telling her stories lately (He is SO much better at it than I am.  I definitely need to acquire some story telling skills.  Mostly I just tell her stories about things that have really happened to us, because when I try to make one up it's terrible.) and it seems she's been enjoying them more than I knew.  After we left the library the other day I heard her in the back saying "once-upon-a-time.........a-little-girl-named......." and I asked "are you telling stories?"  "Yes", she said.  "Tell me one", I said.  And this is what she told me:

"once-upon-a-time was-a-little-girl-named............... (here she looked very hard into the upper corners of her eyes trying to find the little girl's name).............grandpa.  lived in an old apple tree and went home and read books."  And then she said something about knuffle bunny.

I was floored.  It was like someone poured honey in my ears.  Okay, I don't think I'd actually want someone to pour honey in my ears, but it was so so sweet to hear my little baby telling me a story.  Each time since (she's done it maybe 3 times) it starts the same, only the little girl has also been named "mouse" and "mama".  She always lives in an apple tree and she always likes books.

I can totally see where she's getting it, too- books we've read lately come to mind with animals living in apple trees and kindly grandpas being silly.....  Oh, to be inside her brain.