Little Miss Observant

We are learning that we are living with a small person who is taking copious notes on everything we say and do, and everything anyone who visits us does. It’s like living with Big Brother, if he were two, giggled a lot, and had cute blond pigtails.

Thursday was my morning to wake up early with Kate. Last weekend we had The Ruzich/Johnson clan visiting and Kate was enthralled by everything related to Baby Vivy (something we hope she keeps up when her own little sibling comes ’round). This meant inspecting the diaper changing process, sticking her nose into the baby food jars, and standing two inches away from Daryl’s breasts in order to monitor the nursing process.

So the other day I took her for her morning potty sesh, and while sitting there, PJs down around her ankles, she held her stuffed doggie up to her breast. “Doggie drink milk from my nipple,” she explained while pressing it’s nose carefully onto her. She held the animal there for a minute or so, then announced flatly, “Other side,” and moved him to her other breast.

Thankfully she’s being careful to nurse evenly on each side. La Leche League would approve.

On Friday we were driving away from the movie rental store and the car in front of me was going all of 15 MPH. I sighed and hit the horn, causing Kate to exclaim from her car seat, “Come on, dude!” This, a clear Mark-ism.

Evidently, picking up on parental road rage is in Kate’s genes, since as the story goes, some of Mark’s first words were, “Oh shit!” when his mother had to slam on the breaks.

It shouldn’t really come as a surprise to us that Kate is picking up on things that she sees adults do and say. It’s got me thinking that we should be trying harder to leverage it somehow. So in an effort to improve our parenting, as of tomorrow night, Mark and my dinner conversation will be centered around a recitation of the multiplication tables.