Kiki's delivery service

Because my sister Katie lives away at school (and of course because she's also a fun person), she is a highly sought-after commodity amongst the chilluns in our house. For example, whenever any of us are on the phone, M- has now officially switched over from endlessly calling out "Dado" (pronounced "DAH-dough"-- it's my dad's grandfather-name, which is Irish) to endlessly calling out "Kiki".

When she gets the phone, and it actually is Katie, M- is beyond triumphant, and she will walk casually around our apartment for an impressively long time, actually talking to Katie as best she can at her age (a few months past a year).

Every few weeks, M- gets the extra pleasure of delighting Katie with her enthusiasm in the flesh, and M- lets her know the feeling is mutual by running up and hugging her upon arrival. This, I think, may be what keeps Katie leaving her fabulous, glamorous university life to visit us all as often as she does.

Note: In reference to the title, J- and I highly recommend Kiki's Delivery Service along with all the other movies of Hayao Miyazaki we've seen: Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and, to a lesser extent, Princess Mononoke. This is true whether or not you are Japanimation fanatics (which we're certainly not) or have children.