Monkey See, Monkey Do

When you think about it, babies and toddlers are amazing. They are born with just the basics - the ability to "communicate" distress (hunger, pain, discomfort) and to bond (nothing expands your heart like those first, mutually mesmerizing stares). But within just a couple of years, their skills and abilities broaden exponentially to create the foundation of independence to serve them for a lifetime. And one of the key elements to this skill building is mimicry. Unfortunately, mimicry is indiscriminate in both positive and negative behaviors.

At first, they were cute little things. We went on a long trip together, and by the end of the first day, she had figured out how to use the room phone (mostly to annoy the front desk), use the remote control to turn the tv on and off and change channels and volume, and would desperately jab the key card she had lifted from daddy's wallet at the door in hopes of a quick escape. She had also learned to throw towels on the ground and unroll all of the toilet paper in each roll on the wall; slightly less useful skills, but kinda cute since we didn't have to clean it up.

Some skills are adorable and universally photo-worthy. Having her walk around in my 3" wedge slides or drinking from a ceramic mug the size of her head or "talk" on our cell phones or try to pay at the cashier's with our wallets . . . very cute. Asking for a tissue to "blow" her nose or pushing up her long sleeves, 80's-style, because mummy does it, or carrying around mummy's purse while holding a cell phone to her ear, or helping mummy make bread and patting the bottom of the measuring cup because mummy does it, all make lovely memories.

Other skills are a bit harder to come by and more worrying. Playing doctor apparently is more fun than going to the doctor, and she loves nothing more than to take her own temperature (temporal, ear, and under arm only) or use the nasal aspirator (and almost poke her eyes out) or try to give herself "white fairy juice" (acetaminophen). Apparently step stools are a little person's best tool and when coupled with a water fountain, can provide unlimited amusement (and a completely drenched outfit).

Trying to eat lasagna or pasta with her baby fork is something else to behold, and learning how to undress herself when you are desperately trying to dress her in the morning is just downright futile. Far cuter to watch her put her own jacket or socks or shoes on, then to constantly take them off while you are trying to get out the door. And then there's her complete refusal to learn to crawl up and down the stairs and stubborn insistence in walking up and down just like mummy and daddy. Not to mention her worrying habit of examining baby gates and safety harnesses and door locks and zippers (and increasing ability to manipulate said devices).

I personally like to blame my husband, mostly because (1) he has not yet read this blog and will probably not notice my finger pointing and (2) my parents cannot seem to remember my childhood in the same level of detail that his mother remember's his childhood. My husband was also a precocious child. When he was around 10 or so, a pharmacist showed his mother how to open a child-proof medicine container. She said "oh great, now you've shown him exactly how to do it" and the pharmacist laughed it off and said "he's only a child and it's child-proof." In response, she handed my husband the container and he opened it right up. Yup, these are the very genes at work in our daughter.

If you do something once in front of her, not only will this inspire further exploration and curiosity, but in all likelihood, she will now know how to do something else (often dangerous). So far, we have lucked out that she's both shorter and weaker than us. But this will only last so long seeing as she's in the 95th percentile for height and has been able to drag incredibly heavy (for her) items around for months. And we're pretty sure it's just downright weird that she exercises throughout the day and has done since she was tiny (bicep curls, squats, etc.). That's just not normal, right?? Anyway, we now toe that line between needing to live a normal life, and trying to hide certain actions from her (e.g. opening wine and beer bottles - you just never know).

But these exercises in patience and tolerance and a certain amount of blind faith in the survival of the species and our young are just the initiation rights to parenthood. Early tests for the big things to come like teaching them to ride a bike and therefore have access to a much bigger world or letting them drive for the first time on their own or go off to college thousands of miles away. For today, we'll stick with encouraging her to use a napkin instead of her shirt and holding that big ceramic mug with two hands, and enjoy this relative peace while she is still young.