Monkey see, monkey do

I saw a mug the other day with the message, "Children are great imitators; give them something great to imitate." I sincerely hope that I'll be a good example for Hope of a life well invested, because it's certainly true that she's a good imitator! Even when I don't realize she's paying attention, she's soaking in details and storing them away for later. For instance, she barely looked up when I stood on the coffee table the other day to take her picture, but the following day she grabbed my camera, stood on the coffee table, held the camera up to her face, and said "Heese!"

Hope is also pretty much able to imitate every sound now. As far as actual words go, she still only has an adorable assortment, but she tries out words and sounds all the time. I won't write the Hope-version of these sounds, because they're mostly gibberish, but some of the funnier things she's tried on lately are:

- Oh my goodness!
- Fine!
- This-a-way
- How do you do?
- Peanut butter
- Good morning!


Speaking of 'good morning,' that's not what you want to hear when you go in your toddler's room at 3 o'clock in the morning, but that's exactly how she greeted me recently. She's been a sleeping champ for about six weeks now, ever since this post. I don't know what got into her that night, but I'm sure glad that a little cuddle and her toy rhino got her back to sleep.