Mini Me

It's amazing to me how much Grace understands these days. Sometimes I assume that because she can't really talk yet, she doesn't understand what I am saying. Yet, every day she proves this assumption wrong. Yesterday, as I was preparing to leave for class I told her her friend the babysitter was coming over to play with her. Grace enthusiastically nodded her head. OK I thought. That's weird. I then said maybe you guys could go outside when she gets here. So Grace ran and got her shoes to put on. Hmmm. . . . I thought. The babysitter arrived and then something remarkable happened. Grace was right in my exit path and I usually try to sneak out so she doesn't see me leave and throw a fit. But there she stood. So I cheerfully said "Bye Gracie! Have a great time!" She then waved, said "Ba Bye" and threw kisses to me. I was dumbstruck. "Wow," I thought. She really is growing up.

Grace's growing up applies to all sorts of things these days. Whether she tries to repeat something you just said or something you just did, odds are she's right there with you just like a "mini me." If I vacuum, Grace is right behind me with her own vacuum pursing her lips and looking very serious. I now know I look really silly when I vacuum. I used to think it some sort of right-wing conspiracy to keep women in their place that all these kid's catalogues sold cleaning supplies so kids could be just like mommy. Now I know they're just cashing in on something kids do naturally. Grace loves to help me dust, sweep, and even make the bed. She even "helped" me sort and fold the laundry the other day. When Grace sorts the laundry she yells much like a samurai. For each piece she pulls out of the basket she yells, "yaaaaa." So imagine John Belushi sorting your laundry and you've pretty much got the picture.

Of course, all this imitation is bound to reveal my own faults. I recently spoke to our pediatrician about how to deal with Grace when she yells, screams, and hits the dog. He asked me, "Well, do you yell, hit, and scream at the dog?" Yes, I sadly replied. It's not unusual for me to walk past Digby's room and find that Grace had herded him in there and locked the door. Poor guy. . .

We've even had to resort to spelling all sorts of words which is a really difficult way to have a conversation. But every once in a while Grace does spit one out that makes you realize she is absorbing everything. A few weeks back my husband was putting her shoes on and she announced "Oh crap." Oh crap indeed. I was in trouble.

They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery so really I am flattered. It's amazing how much your children want to be just like you. I know at some point this all ends and Grace we'll think we're the biggest dorks out there and ponder why she was cursed with such loser parents. It's inevitable. All kids do it. So when Grace runs up my heels when she's vacuuming, rolls the laundry into a ball when she's folding it, or almost pokes my eye out when she's sweeping, I have to remind myself not to be upset, she just wants to be like me and that's pretty cool.