Thursday 8 November 2012

I Wanna Be Like You-Ooh-Ooh...Two-Ooh-Ooh!

Some time ago I published an article, "I wanna be like you (ooh-ooh)" about how kids want to do what they see adults do. It's only to be expected really, as they learn from watching us. Even the most mundane of daily activities can seem like wondrous miracles to tiny eyes.

I've seen Lydia licking her fingers before turning pages in a book, and covering her eyes with a sigh of "Oh no" when something goes wrong. She has spent several minutes the other day washing the floor and coffee table with a cloth, and happily takes bits of torn paper to the bin (she hasn't learnt how to recycle yet).

Just this weekend, whilst helping my in-laws build some new furniture, I witnessed this:

Lefty-loosy, righty-tighty

That's right, my 18-month old daughter helped us build a TV stand from IKEA. I know that the Swedish king of flat-packed furniture generally make their stuff so easy to put together that in theory a child could do it, but this might be taking that theory to whole new level.

She had studied us for only a matter of minutes before strolling over to the open toolbox, picking out a Phillips, then having a go at screwing in a nut. To be honest, she didn't exactly help us that much, her arms not yet possessing the physical power to tighten a screw. Still, it was a very cute thing to see.

Since then I've been told that she has now learned to repeat her Dad's act of dunking a chunk of bread in her soup. Although I laughed in surprise when my wife told me this, I felt a small amount of pride that Lydia copied this from me.

I can't wait for the surprise of seeing what Lydia will copy next. Better start behaving properly now; no more burping, being messy or lazy around the house doing nothing.

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