Watch and learn
I was watching Joe walk tonight. He was headed to the kitchen to get the broom and then proceeded to mess up the pile left on the floor by me. Now, I need to clarify why there was a pile there. I used to sweep dirt into a pile and leave it there because I was too lazy to put it in the dust pan and I felt like I did the hard part so someone else could finish. That is not the case anymore, really, I've outgrown that nonsense. Now, I just couldn't find the dustpan, so I swept it into a corner so it wouldn't get everywhere until the dustpan could be found. Anyway, he was "sweeping"...mimicking me. I just watched him and thought, "I hope I never forget what this looks like"...not the dirtpile, the way he wobbles, the way he is so intent on what he is doing, the way he looks over and smiles because he is so pleased with himself. Toddlers have a way of walking. That way of wobbling or waddling before they really develop a proper gait pattern. It's such a sign of newness. I love to watch them, all of them, learn things.
Tim helped Jonathan with a puzzle last night and when he was telling me about it he asked, "Have you ever watched Jon put a puzzle together?" "He sits and just looks at the puzzle and then seems to randomly just pick up a piece and put it in a hole." He doesn't do what most of us do which is search for just the right piece for the hole we're trying to fill, he just picks up a piece and plops it in. Tim said he was telling Joshua how amazing Jon is with puzzles, that he can pick up a piece and just stick it in the right spot. At that point Tim was holding up a puzzle piece as a prop and suddenly Jon said, "Thanks Dad", took the piece and stuck it in a hole!
Fortuneately when our children mimic, they copy the best parts usually. There have been some instances where we gasp as we realize that their actions are a mirror of us. I watch Mattie nurture her dolls...nurse her stuffed animals! She has been slow to take up playing with dolls. Maybe it is because she has live babies to take care of all the time! When Joseph was a few weeks old, she was strutting around the house with a little fuzzy lamb stuffed in her shirt and pretty soon she had to take him out and switch sides. She would check on him periodically to make sure he was eating ok. It was at that point that we dug out the dolls from storage to minimize the animals stuck to her tiny little breasts! She continues to insist that when she gets big, she is going to be a mom...and a princess. :)
The older they get the more comprehensive their mimicking becomes. They evolve and soon our bad habits don't go unnoticed. It is still fun to see how their minds work. Jakob most recently wrote something on a shamrock during St. Patty's day celebrations eluding to how it would be good luck to find a wife that is good looking and a good athlete. Hmmm...
Mattie and Joe still have fevers. Tim is felling a little better and the other boys feel better until they get tired. I have decided that the source of my feeling lousy is severe allergies.
Tim helped Jonathan with a puzzle last night and when he was telling me about it he asked, "Have you ever watched Jon put a puzzle together?" "He sits and just looks at the puzzle and then seems to randomly just pick up a piece and put it in a hole." He doesn't do what most of us do which is search for just the right piece for the hole we're trying to fill, he just picks up a piece and plops it in. Tim said he was telling Joshua how amazing Jon is with puzzles, that he can pick up a piece and just stick it in the right spot. At that point Tim was holding up a puzzle piece as a prop and suddenly Jon said, "Thanks Dad", took the piece and stuck it in a hole!
Fortuneately when our children mimic, they copy the best parts usually. There have been some instances where we gasp as we realize that their actions are a mirror of us. I watch Mattie nurture her dolls...nurse her stuffed animals! She has been slow to take up playing with dolls. Maybe it is because she has live babies to take care of all the time! When Joseph was a few weeks old, she was strutting around the house with a little fuzzy lamb stuffed in her shirt and pretty soon she had to take him out and switch sides. She would check on him periodically to make sure he was eating ok. It was at that point that we dug out the dolls from storage to minimize the animals stuck to her tiny little breasts! She continues to insist that when she gets big, she is going to be a mom...and a princess. :)
The older they get the more comprehensive their mimicking becomes. They evolve and soon our bad habits don't go unnoticed. It is still fun to see how their minds work. Jakob most recently wrote something on a shamrock during St. Patty's day celebrations eluding to how it would be good luck to find a wife that is good looking and a good athlete. Hmmm...
Mattie and Joe still have fevers. Tim is felling a little better and the other boys feel better until they get tired. I have decided that the source of my feeling lousy is severe allergies.
