Sometimes I feel sorry for my daughter when she tries repeatedly to tell me something in German, and I don’t get it. The other day, she outright shouted “fourchette!” at me when I didn’t get her request for a “Gabel” (fork).

But how was I to understand that the first thing she said to me today (after “Guten Morgen”, admittedly) was “Schildkröte” (turtle)? Last night she was going on about being a “Fledermaus” (bat).
A dream? A tiny turtle just moved in at her nanny’s the other day. (Welcome to the nanny-menagerie.)