Monkeyshave Mystery solved!
We have had a VERY busy social life in the last couple of weeks surrounding Tina’s wedding & all the out of town guests. Lots of fun, chaos and perhaps because of all the constant social interaction, Z’s speaking skills have improved immensely. BUT, it’s still often hard to figure out what she’s talking about when there is nothing to point at. Especially since each day is rich with word material.
So yesterday, returning from the Cerritos Library & civic center, Zelda kept saying something that sounded a LOT like “Monkey shave”. I REALLY tried to make sense of it, invoking the Monkeys jumping on the bed and all sorts of monkey stories. All of which got a “No! Monkey shave!!” response. Remembering that a couple months ago at the LA Zoo the monkeys were hot (it was 90+ degrees) and hunkered in the shade in a difficult to view spot, I thought she might have figured out the word shade, applied it to her memory and be talking about that…. but my “Zoo? Monkeys hot, monkeys in the shade, Z?” got a “NOOOOO!!!” emphatic response. So I tried to move the conversation on, but the rest of the afternoon and evening Z kept bringing it up.
At dinner Tomo got the camera to see Z & friends at the 
in Cerritos and Zelda excitedly started talking again about monkey shade/monkeyshave! Looking for clues byt going through the pictures of the last few days I saw wedding pictures, boats, meals, the Queen Mary, the Aquarium…ahha! I had an idea! We saw the Binturong at the Long Beach Aquarium, a big black furry creature with a white moustache, and I didn’t take a photo because he was in the shade behind the cage, hugging his fish toy. BUT, Z didn’t know I’d seen him as she slept a few days before when we were at the Aquarium before the rehearsal dinner and I DID take a 
then!
We showed her the photo and she happily exclaimed “Monkey shade!!! Yay”
After discussing the critter a bit, I happily said to Tomo and Zelda “We DID it! We solved the mystery together and figured out what you were talking about Zelda!” to which she responded with a big smile, threw her hands in the air and said “Surprise!”
Aside on Cerritos:
a Wonderful excursion I highly recommend this to all, but especially those with small children. Library is fantastic, modern, plenty of seatin, PCs, artworks, a huge aquarium, dinosaur bones and TONS of stuff in the Children’s library, and outside there are several fountains one of which with dolphins is perfect for getting wet and splashing about in the heat, there is a Koi pond artpiece. Thanks to Wendy and Jenny for this amazing discovery. Worth the drive even without a stop at a Filipino restaurant!)