Julia is slightly obsessed with her inability to pronounce the word “zero.” She actually can and does say the word correctly, but if she thinks about how to say it, she winds up saying “zewo” instead of “zero.” (I had the same trouble with the word “enemy” when I was about her age.)
To make matters worse (and by “worse” I mean “more entertaining”), she has fallen into the habit of contriving questions to which the only answer is “zero.” A sample from the last week or ten days:
- How many rain clouds are in the sky?
- How many cousins came on this walk?
- How many Mamas came on this walk?
- How many brothers do I have?
- How many frogs did we see today?
- How many dead frogs did we see today?
- How many cats did we see in the park?
- How many swings have I been on today?
- How many times have I been in the bike trailer today?
- How many desserts will we have at dinner?
- How many Wise Men did we see at the store?
While Big Sister ponders the nature of absence and nullity, Vivi typically trots along ahead, beside, or behind, singing funny little nonsense songs, investigating things on the sidewalks (good: colorful leaves; bad: goose poop), and occasionally shouting, “Zewo!” to one of Julia’s questions.