Elena Marie enjoys organizing our playtime activities (statements like: "Papa, do a puppet show; here are the dolls you will use" and "Papa, I will be the teacher and you will be the daddy and Isabel will be the baby" (which induces Isabel and I to sit in front of Elena Marie raptly as she educates us on the essences of things: "This is this, and this is this, ... and this is ... a stick!")), so this weekend Elena Marie declared that we will play hide-n-seek: "You and Isabel hide under the bed [pointing to the specific bed], and don't hide anywhere else or I'll get lost!" She said, "Okay, go hide now!" looking to make sure we hid ourselves properly (I stood my ground: "You must count first!" 'cause I'm firm, and stuff ... (firm as in '"silky tofu" firm', not as in 'law firm')) and we promptly hid in the bathtub. After counting, she looked around the house (starting by looking under the indicated bed, I assume) and finally found us (I suppose it helped a bit that Isabel and I were giggling in anticipation and "peeking" out from behind the shower curtain).
Well, now it was the turn of Isabel and me to count and to seek. Elena Marie started the round off with panache: "I will hide under the bed here, okay, Papa?" indicating the same bed -- it wasn't really a question. So, dutifully, Isabel and I counted (Isabel sounds so sincere -- "awwwwwhn, duuuu, eeeee ..." -- as she counts), and then we embarked on a seeking adventure: we walked into the bedroom -- "Is she hiding in the closet, Isabel?" Isabel looked in the closet: "naaoowwh" meanwhile Elena Marie scratched the floor from under the bed, hintingly. We next went to the laundry bin -- "Is she here, Isabel?" Isabel looked at the clothes, searchingly: "naaowwwh!" Elena Marie: *scratch-scratch* We went into the hallway: "Isabel, is Elena Marie hiding in the banyo?" Isabel ran to the toilet, opened the lid, peered in and declared: "naaooww" as she slammed it closed.
That last little maneouver paralyzed Diane and me into fits of hysterics. I coundn't see because my vision was obscured by tears of laughter, and Diane was doubled over. At this point Elena Marie abandonned her subtle play and called out from under the bed, when drew Isabel "to find" her sister, so we all laughed and applauded each other's excellence.
