This Little Piggy

In the mall today, we passed by KB toys, which has a display of those little animal machines that walk and make their little animal noises. There were two dogs, a neon blue elephant, and a rainbow-colored cow. While I wondered why the dogs were given the dignity of looking like dogs while the elephant and cow looked more like sno-cones, Eliana was enraptured. She bent down, barking, trumpeting, and mooing her little lungs out. After about 5 minutes I managed to lure her away from them with the promise of more toys elsewhere in the store, and we headed down the first aisle.

There, near the end, was a wayward pig. Having somehow escaped the ring that enclosed his animatronic brethren, he'd made it two-thirds of the way down the aisle before toppling over, helplessly hoofing the air and oinking vigorously. Just as I noticed him, Eliana broke into a full run, arms stretched high in discovery, shrieking in delight, "Look! A pig! A pig! A pig!!! It's a piggy! It's a piggy!"

I didn't stop to find out, but I'm pretty sure the only thing all the other people in the store saw was a gigantic pregnant lady trying to waddle-run while throwing her head back and cackling.

By the time I caught up and caught my breath, Eliana had stopped short, dumbfounded. Now that she had reached the wayward pig, she didn't quite know what to do about this helpless furious mess. It was covered in dust and dirt but I reached down and turned it upright so it could continue on its escape. This not only re-animated Eliana, it also made her "wanna 'old it. Nonna touch it too. Soft piggy, put on nose." EEEWWW. Me: (look of horror) "Yes, it's a soft piggy, but it's too icky to go on your nose and it's too icky to hug." Eliana: (brightly) "Let's clean it." Me:"We can't, I don't have anything to clean it with." Eliana (sadly): "Just look at it." So we did for a few minutes, then moved on to the rest of KB's toddler offerings (not much, definitely an older kids' toy store).

So this has been our topic of conversation for the rest of the day (either to me or talking to herself). "Is an icky piggy. No touch it. Just look at it. Icky piggy icky piggy dirty. No clean it. Just look at it. Is a dirty piggy."