The Art of Mimicry

It begins. Ashton has decided it's time to speak real words. And we, as his loving family have the privilege of laughing at him!

The first thing that caught our attention was "stop it"! While we were in Charleston, he heard Sarah saying that when we tickled her. He quickly added it into his daily routine. Anytime someone tickled him he would belt out "STOP" and then giggle profusely!

Then he started to branch out. Our cat Noah has a compulsive licking issue. He's gotten so bad that he has very little fur on his abdomen and back legs. When ever I see this, I say, "Noah, stop!" I typically have to smack my leg or a piece of furniture to get the cat's attention. It never dawned on me that Ashton would pick this up. So now when he sees Noah, he excitedly screams, "Noah Stop!" and then he hits his leg. That's my boy!

The funniest one happened yesterday. Sarah did something and said "Oh poop!" And my dear little boy started walking around saying, "Poop, Poop, Poop."

Ah, the stories we will have for when he is older! But it's also interesting to see what he is learning from us. Right now, he picks up the broom (even though it's taller than he is) and sweeps the floor. He cocks his head like I do at times and covers his mouth when he laughs hard. He also makes all the silly noises that I make.

In the morning, he wants to get his shoes on when Daniel does. When the two of them are sitting on the couch, Ashton will do whatever he can to sit just like Daniel. The other day, Daniel had his hands behind his head. Ashton would look at him and then work to get his hands just like his dad. He also wants to wear a hat if he sees one on Daniel.

As parents these little things make us more aware of how our every action is replayed in the minds and lives of our children. To be honest, as they grow it's easy to not be as disciplined. But even our oldest watches our every move. She mimics our actions and responds in different ways. We have to make sure that we are worthy of our kids imitation. And, we can laugh at them a little along the way!