Monday, June 3, 2013

Mommy Mondays: The Invasion of the Octopuses

I know my child can't be the only three-year-old out there obsessed with something completely random and mildly disconcerting. It all started months ago, when Auntie Sha Sha (aka Sarah) was visiting. At least I think that's where it started. Somehow she and Jack started making little octopuses with their hands, and then Jack's very musical rendition of an octopus noise was born. It sounds like this: (high pitched) "ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh" (low pitched) "ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh." You know, just like an octopus.

In Barcelona, we were standing in the long line to get into the aquarium when Jack saw a picture of an octopus. As soon as we made it inside, all Jack could talk about was the octopus. He blew past the sharks and the rays, the Doris and Nemos, until we finally found an octopus tank. Fortunately they were a particularly lively group of octopuses, and Jack got a real show. Then we finished up our visit in the gift shop (because of course that way the only way to get out of the aquarium). And Jack was allowed to pick out one small toy. Enter Ishka.

Ishka gets around. Here she is at the Frankfurt airport.

I don't know where the name Ishka came from, but Ishka is indeed her name, and she's a suprisingly lifelike toy considering she cost 2 euros. She even has a creepy little mouth underneath her body. Ishka sleeps with Jack every night and has been the inspiration for many a drawing.


The octopus is in yellow.  The blue is "all the water." Ignore the hair.
 
I turned around and this appeared.

Yesterday as we walked to the river to feed the ducks, Jack decided there absolutely had to be an octopus living in the water, so he screamed, "Let's find the octopus!" repeatedly until we found the ducks and he became obsessed with those for a little while.

This morning, I heard Jack crying in his room and ran in to find him screaming about octopuses. I wasn't sure if he was looking for Ishka or it had been an octopus nightmare. When I came home from work, he was watching a documentary about octopuses.

The third octopus documentary today.

In case you didn't get the memo, Jack has something to say to you:

"Octopus!"

So, yeah, that's what my kid is into right now. What about yours?

3 comments:

Birdie said...

Hilarious! I love it...and I love his shaggy hair...

sonia said...

That's awesome. My daughter went through a ton of obsessions. For a while she was really obsessed with cake decorating although she didn't want to try it herself, just watch pros do it on TV or look at pictures in books from the library. It's amazing what their young minds become fascinated by.

Alleged Author said...

Hahahaha! I'm just waiting for him to ask for a real one. :)