Until recently, Alden’s interest in the TV was pretty much nil. She would sort of see it going on over in the corner while she banged on wooden toys or sat on the potty or jumped off the back of the couch, but she seemed to think of it as mostly static. Ambiance. Mood lighting.

However, the other day when I was trying to get the auction item painted while Matthew was out of town for the day and Kato was demanding to be on my lap at all times, I decided to provide Alden with some distraction so she wouldn’t destroy Matthew’s computer or jump down the spiral staircase while I wasn’t looking.

She grabbed her two favorite comfort buddies, Frog and Stinky Hippo.

They pretty much go everywhere with her. If one is forgotten, boy oh boy will we hear it. In fact, she is so loathe to give up Stinky Hippo that he rarely gets washed, and thus his moniker. (To be honest, Frog should be called Stinky Frog, but then it gets confusing with whether the “Stinky” is a first name or just an adjective, or if it’s a family name, and we’re just doing it Japanese style, where the last name comes first, or whatever. Are they related? Are they not related? The issue gets a little murky. So, Stinky Hippo and Frog it is.) So anyway – the three pals settle in for movie time on Matthew’s office chair while I cue up the DVD on his computer.

She seemed pretty content to sit through the opening credits, so I sat down and furiously went to work, counting the minutes till her patience ran out.

Suddenly, she yelled out: “FROG!” and pointed to the screen. Then, “HIPPO!!” She was very excited. “Mama, FROG! HIPPO!” So I went over to have a look at what she was talking about.

Yeah. She pretty much thinks Monsters, Inc. is about Frog and Stinky Hippo.

Pleased that she was thusly engrossed, I finished my painting and posted it for the auction. It was amazing that she sat so quietly the entire time I was working. She really dug the movie, and enjoyed the idea that her buddies were on the (little) big screen.

At least I thought so, until I went over and discovered that the whole time she was “watching” she had also been scraping deodorant out of its container with her fingernails and wiping it on Matthew’s office chair.

Ah well. I’ll take what I can get. At least she didn’t wipe any of it on Matthew’s computer.