First, that I make horrible faces when I’m changing diapers! Mara always imitates me. Always. The whole “mini-me” thing is certainly insightful. At times amusing and other times disturbing. When I change my 7-month-old’s diapers, she changes her doll’s “diaper.” She lays the doll down, just as I do with Micah, then holds it up by its legs, and asks me for a wipe. Then she wrinkles her nose and looks incredulously at the doll while wiping, and says, “DIRRRRRTY biper! YUUUUCKY YUCKY biper!! . . .? YUCKY biper!” . . . No wonder Mara is traumatized every time she has a “yucky biper”!
When she feeds her doll, it is “rice cereal.” She coos at her doll and says, “Yummy rice cereal. . . oh, good job, baby! More rice cereal?” with this coochie-coochie-coo inflection. So that must be how I sound when I’m feeding Micah.
Finally, I’m learning that she is remembering my warnings!!! As I climbed on a 3-foot stool this morning to reach into the highest kitchen cabinet, Mara called out from the dining room, “Be tareful, Mommy.” Then wagging her finger, she added, “Don’t fall, Mommy.” As I climbed down off the stool, she smiled, a look of relief flashing across her face. “All better, Mommy.”