Elton, continued

The girls' love of Elton John shows no signs of waning.

We've watched his episode 25+ times - and there's no end in sight. One of the sweetest parts of my day is asking Charlotte what she wants to watch before bed and hearing her say (phonetically):

"Eh-tin Jah-on, PEAS!!!!!!"

He's the ideal guest, with his crazy costumes and catchy songs. On the show he sings "Goodbye Yellowbrick Road" / "Don't Go Breaking my Heart" / "Crocodile Rock" / "Bennie and the Jets." Six months ago I was pretty indifferent about his music, but I'm now a big fan. We all are.

Emily's clearly in love with his costumes and lyrics. No question. The first time we watched she asked if Elton's real, since she knows the muppets are not. We told her he is and that he lives in England. (Maybe?) Of course her next question was: can we visit England and meet him?!? Not wanting to squash her dreams, I said something along the lines of, "We'll see..." (So much for honest parenting.) As I was tucking her in that night she seemed a little distracted, and when I asked why, she confided, "I might be a little bit nervous. To meet Elton John." I still didn't have the heart to tell her it's not gonna happen, so I said I wasn't certain we'd be able to travel all-the-way to England, but if we do, she's not to worry because he's probably a really nice guy. (Let's hope!) Since then she's asked me if he's married - and later that same day she posed the question, "Do you need to ask someone before you marry them?" Seems she's got big plans for this trip. Yikes!

Charlotte's initial fondness for the show was a bit of a mystery. She's really loyal to her Dora and Diego cartoon friends, so she doesn't usually get excited for new stuff. (Side note: From the beginning Charlotte's referred to Elton as a "she" - and still does. We think it's the long hair & sparkly outfits. When he's in pants she'll ask, "where's Elton" and say "that not Elton, that a boy.") Elton's first song features some muppet crocodiles, and at the end they lure him to the edge of their lake where he slips in and reappears wearing a very sad face. After the fall, it was a struggle for Charlotte to reconcile that sad, wet face with the upbeat-ness of the rest of the episode. Later that evening Charlotte said, "Girl sad, but Mama make happy cuz dry off!" Our smartie was able to figure out why Elton was happy again after such a nasty fall :)

There's also a great Elton-less skit in the episode with a piano duet featuring Ralph and Fozzie. In the beginning Charlotte's quick to point out that they're sharing the piano which "makes everybody feel REALLY happy!!" Later there's a big flourish and both Ralph and Fozzie topple to the floor. Charlotte attributes the fall to the fact that they stopped sharing, "guys bonk heads and now everybody sad." Obviously *sharing* and *feelings* are a being emphasized a lot in her world these days ;)

I know this is huge amount of detail, but I really want to remember their excitement each night when we press play and Elton appears, and how mesmerized they are by the entire episode. Emily is completely engrossed. And while Charlotte has a lot of questions (why close eyes? / why get wet? / why say AHHHH?), she clearly enjoys watching. She's started singing "Don't Go Breaking my Heart" when lying in the tub. And we hear she's been humming "Bennie and the Jets" throughout the day at Hope's. Their giddiness surrounding him is "SO cute"- as Charlotte herself would say. Wish I could bottle it up!!



This cell phone video is a grainy snippet of how entranced they get. The audio isn't great, so here's a little play-by-play. The girls both show their muscles at the beginning, just like Elton does. Then Emily notes that Elton likes the piano and has played it twice so far. Later Charlotte points out that toads are like frogs. Then she asks why Elton closes his eyes. Every.Single.Time :)