Yes or No?

Maxine figured out some time ago, before we left Korea, that if you asked her a question starting with "Do," and she answered "No," it would get a laugh. And like her Daddy, Maxine always likes going for the laugh. So I am used to being able to get her to say what I want by carefully phrasing my yes/no questions. It has no impact whatsoever on her behavior, but it keeps me and Horyon entertained.

Yesterday evening Horyon asked me to sing a song for Maxine so she could work on her hair before bedtime. I sang "Oh, Susannah," going right into "Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah," giving quite a spirited performance, complete with little actions and the occasional sound effect. When I finally finished, out of breath and quite proud of myself, Maxine just stared at me. No smile, no clapping. Nothing. I asked her, "Why are you staring at Daddy like he's crazy?" Of course this got no response, so I reworded, keeping in mind her tendency to answer "Do" questions with "No":

"Do you think Daddy is crazy?" I asked.

Her immediate answer was, "Yes." I just about lost it, and Horyon laughed out loud. I thought to myself that she was going into a new pattern, so I tried testing it:

"Do you think that Mommy is crazy?"

"No." Aha. The child already has some discernment.

"Do you think Maxine is crazy?"

"Yes." Now that's Daddy's little girl. Horyon and I laughed, and of course Maxine joined in. Because for her anytime someone else is laughing is a good time for her to laugh.

For what it's worth, she still answers "no" when asked if she loves Daddy. I don't mind so much, because I can still get a kiss on demand.

Another recent development was her first phone conversation that didn't involve her just sitting and listening to the phone. Now she has practiced quite a bit on remote controls, and seemed to have no trouble vocalizing in that situation. But whenever we put her on a real phone she just clams up. Then the other day when my Dad called, I put her on and she actually talked! She was following my cues, just echoing "Hi", "How are you?" and a few of her other words, but Dad was surprised at how well he could understand her.

The closer we get to real conversation, the more excited I am. I am so looking forward to knowing what she is thinking. Growing up my parents always had at least one cat in the house, and I always wondered what they were thinking. Maxine has been a little bit the same, except that someday she will be able to tell me! And she doesn't shed!

In other news, my test was postponed until next Tuesday, July 3rd. The prof. was worried that there wasn't enough material for a test this Friday. Right. Today he threw some stuff at us that was completely incomprehensible to me. It helped a bit that he told us up front that it would be so, and that he wasn't putting any of it in the homework, but it was still not fun. It's hard taking notes on something that you just don't get. If he goes into it again tomorrow, I'm going to raise my hand and tell him that I'm clueless, because I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.

Other than that, I guess it's going well. Horyon has been sick the last few days. We are uninsured, so we're not going to a clinic unless it gets worse. Right now she has a slight cough and a fever that Tylenol is managing. The rough part is that she needs more sleep than she can get. Like all day. That leaves me with Maxine most of the day, trying to do my homework at night, and waking up early to go to class. I'm glad the test is next week, because I wouldn't be ready for one tomorrow, even if I had used this Roblog time for statistics. And if I don't get on here once a week or so, I feel like I'm letting the time slip by and completely disappear into the past. I need a record of what's happened! And you get to share it! Lucky you!

Peace,

Rob