Friday, January 27, 2006

Bert update

Anna pointed out to me last night that Bert knew how to say soup too.

I told Anna how I taught Bert to say cheese, how long it took me and how many pieces of cheese I ate whilst saying the word.

I told her how I smiled when he pointed at the wardrobe and said 'cheese' and how puzzled he was when on subsequent performances of the same manoeuvre I shook my head and said 'no Bert thats not cheese, I can't keep my school uniform and my P.E kit and my jeans and t-shirts in cheese, they would smell awful'.

Every day for months he would swivel his head, look at the wardrobe, point and say cheese. Every day he would look crestfallen in his teddy way when I shook my head. I tried everything. I got my parents to bring back a really pungent cheese from France so he could compare the smell to the veneer of my walnut wardrobe. Nothing worked.

Next time they crossed the channel I got them to bring back a poster of the 360 cheeses of France. I stuck it on the wardrobe. Bert pointed, said cheese, I smiled, he smiled.

Then I started to teach him about Yoghurt.

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