No, that’s not Swahili.  That’s Madeline speak.

Other than her beloved Giraffe, Gigi,  and her sister, the only other thing Madeline adores in this world with all her heart is “juice”.  Juice can come in many forms, but it’s usually just a sippy cup filled with water, except at mealtimes where she has watered down apple juice or milk.  She asks for “Mah Djucie” all day, and drinks all day.  Yeah it’s a habit we’ve let her get into, but I suppose there are worse things in the world than being hydrated.  She still eats like a 10 year old (most days anyway), and is healthy and growing, so it’s not hindering her at all.

Anyway, sometimes this constant demand can get REALLY annoying, especially when there are no sippy cups clean or the dishwasher is running.

Monday night we went to dinner out at a local pizza buffet. (yeah, I know, not exactly South Beach approved, but it was convenient and cheap.  I was sort of good.)  The kids eat free at this place with the purchase of a drink.  Jonathan went and grabbed a booth with the girls, and I went to get them a plate of food each and a drink.  Every once in a blue moon, we let Claire have some Sprite when we’re out to dinner.  So I poured a glass of Sprite for her.  The best choice left for Madeline was an orange soda.  I CRAVED orange soda and Dr. Pepper when I was pregnant with her, so I figured she would like it.  I gave her about 1/4 of a glass.

Needless to say, Madeline was in love with the orange soda.  So much so that she was not eating her dinner, which is unusual for our little human garbage disposal.  I decided that she needed to eat more, so I took her “juice” (under much protest…she was yelling “Mah Djucie” at the top of her lung) and replaced it with some water.  I should have gotten her water in the first place, but I didn’t see that it was available from the soda machine until my second trip.

Her enthusiasm faded considerably after her first sip.  It went a little like this:

M:  Mah Djucie! Mah Djucie!  May Djucie!  Tank you Mommy!

Pause.  Drink.

M:  Oh.  Waduh.

She puts the drink down, and starts eating.  Jonathan and I burst into uncontrolable laughter.  Madeline looked at us like we were insane.