Monkey See Monkey Do

Jonah loves watching his sisters and wants to copy everything they do whether it is helping set the table or running around the kitchen screaming like a lunatic. His new game takes place around dinner time. When the girls are done with dinner they go to the bathroom to wash their hands. When they are done washing they come to me or Carrie for an inspection. Genevieve is pretty good about getting clean but is often in a hurry and needs someone to spot check her. Sometimes she'll try to pull a fast one and won't even wash. Little does she know that her inability to thoroughly dry her hands is a dead give away. Sophie, on the other hand, just cannot do it. She is too impatient to get clean and refuses to look into the mirror to see where she needs to concentrate her attentions. She might make four trips back to the table for re-inspection. We offer to help but she usually doesn't want it. Jonah's ritual is slightly different as we've already washed him so he is already clean. After he finishes his meal, we continue with dinner. On many nights he will come running into the dining room to proudly show us his hands and face. He doesn't quite know why he is showing them to us but is proud none the less. This may happen several times during the course of the meal. He doesn't actually wash in the bathroom but he does go back in there before running back in shouting urgently for our attention.

On an unrelated note, Sophie's class had yodels (chocolate covered snack cakes) to celebrate the penultimate letter of the alphabet. After hearing a description of what a yodel was, Genevieve was saddened that she didn't get one and turned to Carrie to ask "Mommy, can you look up a recipe and make me some?" I'm not sure if she assumed they were home-made or just figured that mommy can make anything. Either way I was pretty pleased that her first thought wasn't about buying them from the supermarket. In the end, that is what Carrie did, but that is besides the point.

In Sophie news she busted her lip on Saturday. she looked like she had been in a boxing match. There was enough blood to send Genevieve running from the room (sissy). Amazingly, I kept it together and managed to staunch the flow with an ice cube and a paper towel. Sophie didn't really mind but she looked awful. Carrie put some Vaseline on her lips before bed to help seal the wound. At 6:00 AM Sophie came running into our bedroom and lisped "Mommy, the lipstick wore off. I need more."