Making theatre

The opening scene of Bergman's last film, Fanny and Alexander, features a child manipulating figures and creating dialog for tiny characters on a stage set. It's a natural activity for a child whose parents and grandmother have made their lives in the entertainment business--and I'm talking both about Bergman's character and Bella.

Bella has always loved playing with small figures, and as she becomes more capable of expressing herself in words, she creates scenes involving characters who act out the scenes of her life: meetings and partings, hiding, reading stories aloud from books, eating together, dancing, coming in and going out.

Today for the first time since late November, Bella spent the whole day with me. Heaven. We went out to eat, we hung out in a toy store, and we brought home a little toy house we played with for the rest of the day. I took a great many pictures, a few of which are here. When she left, she patted me and said, "I go home with my Mama and Daddy, and I come again." Very reassuring. I think our Thursdays can resume now.

And tomorrow Sue comes home.