Last night I was bathing the monkeys and Annabelle was singing, as she usually is, and George walked by the bathroom. He stopped and backed up. “Is she singing Macy Gray?” he asked. The lyrics of the song she was singing finally registered with me. My little three old was singing “try to say goodbye and I choke, try to walk away and I stumble.” Now, I love this song by Macy Gray, but I haven’t listened to it in months. “Sweetie,” I said, “Where did you hear that song?” She just smiled at me. Then she said, “Mom, why does she choke?” I spent the next half hour explaining that there’s another definition for choking besides gagging on one’s food. “Sometimes people say they get “choked up” when they’re sad or about to cry. And people sometimes have a hard time saying goodbye, like we do when we say goodbye to Ellie (Annabelle’s cousin and my sweet sweet niece). It makes us sad so we could say, “We try to say goodbye and we choke.” I had to also explain stumble to her.
I’m constantly amazed by her musicality. Yesterday we came home from lunch and she tore off her shirt in the driveway and started singing “”This car is automatic, systematic, hydromatic…” Her favorite dance numbers are “Greased Lightning” from Grease, “All I Do is Dream of You” from Singing in the Rain, and “Sisters” from White Christmas. Today we were jumping on the bed, well she was with Henry and Zazie, and Zazie was singing this sweet little song with her mom, Lacie, called “Wiggle Wiggle,” the only lyrics being “wiggle.” Lacie has the sweetest voice. Annabelle said, “I have a song!” and stood up ont eh bed in her Tinkerbell underwear and broke into a spirited version of “Heartbreak Hotel,” her signature Elvis impersonation, with Henry doing a hilarious Annabelle impersonation at the same time. That’s my girl.
And this after we went to Lacie’s yesterday for a magical Devali celebration, the Indian Festival of Lights, and she was playing Bollywood music, and Annabelle came into me and said, “Mom, the Siamese cats are singing.” That’s my girl.
