Beth has recently entered the world of joke-telling, and let me tell you, it is hilarious. The actual jokes she tells are not the funny part, nor is her comedic delivery. The funny part is seeing the huge kick she gets out of making other people laugh.

She's known for a long time (as all kids do) that certain things are funny, but she's just grasped the concept that there are certain little anecdotes you can tell to people that are created with the specific purpose of being funny: jokes. Tonight, after much practicing and coaching from Eric, she finally got the timing right to successfully tell the following knock-knock joke:

"Knock-knock."
"Who's there?"
"Interrupting cow."
"Interrupting cow wh--"
"--Moo!"

Hilarious, no?

That one is an actual, real joke that people tell each other, though. One her daddy taught her. She told me tonight, after her successful interrupting cow performance, that she knew lots of jokes. I asked her where she learned all of them, and she told me that no one taught her, that she thought of them herself. So, apparently, now that she's got the knock-knock format down, she is broadening her horizons with her own material. Let me give you a sample:

"Knock-knock."
"Who's there?"
"Banana."
"Banana who?"
"Banana cupcake!"

This is followed by wild laughter on her part. (and on Lucy's, since she adores and mimics whatever Beth does.)

Or how about this one:

"Knock-knock."
"Who's there?"
"Wolf."
"Wolf who?"
"Wolf-cow-pig!"

And cue the wild laughter again. Apparently this is really, really funny if you're three.

Somehow, I'm thinking stand-up comedy may not be in her future.