I'm not sure if this is one or two or three girls. I know that she/they live in Michigan like Eila, somewhere on our street, but we often need to drive a car to get there. I think that she/they have red hair like Eila and are big, not like Josiah. Visitng Nona, Noona, and Nina is top on Eila's list of things to do. We usually run into them/her everywhere we go and it's always so much fun, says Eila. She/they love to swim and ride bikes with Eila and don't need to nap, but sometimes she/they do have to go potty.

I hear that having imaginary friends is a sign of brilliance; Eila must be a genius!

"I just péte like a dog." Some might say that Eila is monolingual given that 99% of what she says is English, but sentences like this one give her away. Péter is the French verb to fart and Eila understand well how to say it and what it means, but she also recognizes that it sounds just like the English verb pet, like stroking the fur of a dog. This sentence was to help clarify what she was saying, since I wasn't understanding she had to give an example with a hand motion.

Eila loves swimming and playing in her pool. She especially loves jumping off the slide into the pool and when asked when she was going to stop and come inside, she responded (with some prompting) "when the cows come home."

Later that night, Eila was crying and saying she was scared. So, I asked her "Why?" as she asks me every few minutes. Unlike her usual response of "it doesn't matter" she said "I don't want the cows to come home. I'm scared of the cows. When they come home?" I assured her that these cows were not coming home and that she had no reason to worry. Eila seemed pleased and has since been able to joke about the cows coming home and jumping and playing until the do.

Eila seems to really like cars. She often talks about the types of cars that people drive and can identify the cars of all her friends and family members. Eila also likes to ride in other cars and wants other people to ride in her car. This topic of conversation doesn't ever seem to go dry.

Lately, Eila has been very particular about our car and who sits where. She has repeated asks for Mama to drive and Papa to sit in the other seat. (Normally, when we are all together, Brian drives since I really don't like driving that much and he doesn't care.) If she forgets to ask before we get into the car, loud protests can be heard several cars away. There is something distressing to Eila about Mama sitting in the passenger seat while Papa drives...