Learning from Her Big Brothers
My baby girl isn’t a baby anymore. I guess this happened when she turned one, many months ago, but I’ve been in denial. I just can’t believe she’s a walking and (somewhat) talking toddler already.
Like most babies
of the family, she’s learned a ton from having a front row seat to seeing how
her older brothers interact for the past year or so.
Sometimes this is
a good thing. She, at a much younger age than any of the brothers I might add,
observed there was a routine where everyone helps clean up after dinnertime.
She was picking up napkins and trying to pick up the gallon of milk to pitch in
as soon as she could walk.
She also learned
when Mom or Dad say we have to go somewhere, the thing to do is to run and get
your shoes and wait by the front door.
She also mimics
what her brothers say. This is an interesting way to learn what words and
phrases get used most often. “Curbside” and “Hobby Lobby” were in her first 100
words which gives you an idea about how often we get groceries and how much my
wife likes Hobby Lobby.
Apparently, “hey” (in
a nasal and protesting tone) and “give it back!” are two of the most common
things she has heard from her brothers. It’s equal parts unbearably cute and
unbearable to see our one-year-old say, “give it back!” if someone has
something she wants.
But what the
mimicking has really taught me is that I have a house full of professional
soccer players. The exaggerated falls, and the flops, and the fake injuries
that she sees her brothers act out have rubbed off on her.
It started with
her saying, “ow, ow,” in a pitiful hurt voice when a brother picked her up and
she didn’t want to be. Of course, I, as Dad and all-time referee, immediately
came over and scolded the brother thinking he was being too rough.
But then she was trying
to go into the bathroom (an off-limits area for her and therefore the most
attractive room in the house) and when I scooped her up, she gave me the
pitiful, “ow, ow” like she was hurt instead of just upset I wouldn’t let her go
in the room.
It’s a clever
tactic. If the one-year-old sister is crying ow, the default response is to
blame the nearest brother. And now she’s taken it to the next level.
Because now
instead of just saying “ow” she will hold her arm or grab her leg and say, “ow,
ow” when someone tells her not to climb on the table, or not to pull on the
cabinet, or not to go by the oven when the door is open.
There’s a type of
bird called a killdeer that’s known for its injuring feigning technique to lure
predators away from its nest. Killdeer nest on the ground so if a predator (or
human) walks near its nest it will make a racket and then pretend it has a
broken wing to try and lure the perceived threat away from its nest.
There are two
brothers in particular who like to exaggerate or fake an injury so she’s either
been watching them or she’s been reading the bird book on killdeer. Either way,
she’s gotten remarkably good at this injury feigning in a short amount of time.