In Swedish, Mickey Mouse is called Musse Pigg, “Musse” being a diminutive of the word “mus,” or “mouse,” and “Pigg” an adjective that means something like “lively” or “eager.”  Whatever you call him, he’s become a special favorite of Petra’s over the past several weeks, and what she calls him is, simply, “Pigg.” (To the uninitiated, it sounds as though she’s saying “pig.”  She’s found a way around the dilemma this creates — actual pigs she calls “nöff, nöff,” which is, of course, what pigs say in Swedish).

There’s something unbearably cute to me about the wonder and delight in her little voice every time she catches sight of Mickey and exclaims, “Pigg!”  It always gives me a bittersweet little ache in my heart, because I know that this, too, shall pass.