A comedian in the making...

Monkey has always worked hard to win a laugh. Sadly, she has been summarily unsuccessful with intentional humor. She has reduced us to giggles accidentally on a regular basis, but she hasn't been able to turn her comedic yearnings into any laughter through jokes.

She cracked us up in the car on the way back from Virginia Beach when I indicated to Lee that it was time to nurse the baby by saying "My boobs feel like they are going to explode."
Monkey giggled and tried to sympathize with me by saying "I know mommy, I feel like my butt is going to explode."
The unexpected nature of the comment mingled with the inevitable bathroom humor had Lee and I laughing for quite a while. Monkey was pleased with the unintended result, but kept trying to re-create it. "My elbow is going to explode", "my shoulder is going to explode", "my foot is going to explode." We tried to explain what had made her comment so funny, but she didn't quite get it.

Which is why I am pleased to announce that Marlena has successfully produced her first funny original joke.

She is battling asthma, and when an episode comes on, it usually begins with a great deal of coughing. She is often hit with coughing fits before bedtime, as she usually gets an episode late in the evening.

The other night I was waiting to tuck her in while she fought her way through a particularly long coughing fit. When it was over she sat up, looked at me, made a weird face, and pretended to pull something out of her mouth.

"Ick. Furball." She said, holding out the pretend hair ball.

I lost it. It was the funniest thing she had every said, and it was intentional. She gleefully and skillfully seized her opportunity to create a well timed joke. I am so proud of her. It took a lot of thought to create a funny moment out of an asthma episode.

My little girl is beginning to develop comedic timing, and an understanding of humor. It is another sign that she is growing up.