If Alia could talk...

So I played with Alia for a few hours this morning, mostly happily, and I decided to write a post about what she might say, if she could write. Of course, everything is all jumbled together, since her attention span ranges from 5-10 seconds. Here's a small peek into Alia's world....

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"Today, I got to play with Miss Mandy alllllllll morning! I was so excited to play when I woke up at 5:30 in the morning that I started singing and running around downstairs and screaming her name, like I do every morning that she has to go to school. I kept screaming today until she came downstairs at 9:00. I wonder why she takes so long to wake up? I'm sure she can hear me. I don't think I can scream any louder. I LOVE being awake at 5:30!

She looks so funny when she comes downstairs. I love touching her big hair. It's very soft. She and Mrs. Christine have taught me how to gently stroke soft things and say, "Nice...nice..." instead of pulling at them. I don't know why they don't like it when I pull things off of tables...?

Miss Mandy says I'm a funny actress, because when she coughs in the morning, I do it, too. She doesn't cough as much or as hard as she did at Christmastime, but I still do things she does. It's fun to cough with Miss Mandy!

Sometimes, she lets me comb her hair, but it's hard to do. The last time I did this, she yelled, and this scared me, so I won't do it anymore. I don't think she likes it.

I call my mommy "Ibu". Ibu calls Miss Mandy 3 names: Miss Mandy, Miss Amanda, and Mandy. I wonder why she only calls me Alia...?

I have fun looking at the photos in Miss Mandy's house. There are lots of pictures of her friends and family. I like to point to them and count them, even though I forget my numbers in order, in both English and Indonesian. My favorite photo is the picture of Leah, since that sounds like MY name! :) Miss Mandy really loves her family and friends. She tells me so all the time.

I love it when she talks to her computer, because her computer talks back to her! And it's really cool, because I see people on the computer screen, and sometimes, they say my name and want to play peek-a-boo with me! I don't know who they are. Miss Mandy says they're her family, but I don't think so; they're very strange and make weird faces at me. I've given up trying to figure out why Miss Mandy likes to talk to her computer, but I always run over anyways to tell it "hello". :)

She likes to take photos of me, too. When she came in August, I was afraid of Miss Mandy and didn't want to play with her. Her camera's flash scared me, and I would run away. But later, she showed me some photos of me and Ibu. She said I looked like a happy girl. Then I started doing funny things and smiling big, big smiles, and Miss Mandy took a lot of pictures of me. I LOVE to look at my photos! I'm such a beautiful, happy girl!

Guess what? Miss Mandy printed some photos and put them in a photo album for me and Ibu for Christmas. Now, I can take them all over the house and look at them whenever I want to, instead of touching Miss Mandy's computer screen with my greasy fingers whenever I see myself there. See my cool, new sunglasses that someone gave me for Christmas? I love to show them off and wear them INside the house, but not when I go OUTside.

But I do like playing outside. There are some pretty white flowers that grow in the long grass in front of Miss Mandy's house. I used to pick them and give some to her and Ibu. But now I can't, because Pak Mohammed, the gardener, made a little fence to keep me away from the pretty flowers. *Harrumph/Stamp foot.*

I have lots of fun at Miss Mandy's house. She has introduced me to all kinds of songs. Tonight, I tried very hard to sing to and do the hand motions to "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". I sang this to Miss Mandy when she was eating her dinner at the table. I made the spider with my fingers and pretended it landed in her mashed potatoes. She didn't like that very much. Mashed potatoes are her favorite food that Ibu makes.

Miss Mandy also likes to play cultural songs for me. We love to dance around the living room to the Jackson 5, and when "ABC" comes on, I shrug my shoulders, one-by-one. I also like to watch her Bollywood music videos on the computer. I'm learning some hand motions, and I like to look at the women's pretty saris.

I'm slowly learning English. Miss Mandy and Mrs. Christine teach me the parts of my body, numbers, and some commands in English. (Last week, I learned what "don't touch" means...) Miss Mandy has also taught me a silly song she made up called, "Hola, Hola". She says it's something called Spanish. I wonder if Ibu knows what Spanish is...?

I like to teach Miss Mandy Indonesian words. It's funny to talk to her and Ibu. When I talk in English, Miss Mandy smiles and nods. When I talk in Indonesian, Ibu smiles and nods. When I talk in Alia Talk...they just look at each other and ignore me. *Harrumph/Stamp foot.*

Miss Mandy sometimes gives me a treat. Today, she let me have one of her yummy yogurts, and I showed her how awesome I am at using a spoon! I also know how to use a napkin for when the yogurt falls on the floor. I'm also learning how to wash my hands in the kitchen sink. It's so much fun being wet! But I don't really like to take showers in the morning. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I can run away from Ibu before she has time to finish running the water. I'm sure Miss Mandy LOVES it when she's eating breakfast and I run to her for a big hug with no underpants on! But then I have to run around the kitchen table a couple times and scream when Ibu finally catches me. *Harrumph/Stamp foot.*

Miss Mandy told me today that I should be nicer to Ibu, just like I'm nice to her. *Harrumph/Stamp foot.*

I love it when Miss Mandy turns on the twinkle lights in her house! They're so pretty! But they're very hot to touch.

Just to see how cool I am, you should look at these photos of me. I'm such a pretty, happy girl!


This is what I call "playin' it cool". What's up.

I love putting things on my head!

Miss Mandy says I'm a drama queen. I wonder what that means...!

*Yawn.* I'm sleepy now. I didn't take a nap today. Sometimes I do, but I had so many fun things to do and play with at Miss Mandy's house that I couldn't go to sleep!

Maybe, sometime soon, I'll write on here again. Maybe I'll learn more English soon. Oh, and if Miss Mandy talks to the computer and I see YOUR face, I'll try very hard to smile and wave "hello" to you. Good-night!/Selamat malam!"