Careful What You Do & Say

I've heard the saying that kid's brains are like little sponges, seeking out and absorbing the tiniest increments of knowledge that they can find. I've always been impressed by E's ability to grasp things that we say in her first 3 years of her life. But her ability to use things in context and to remember people/places/things/phrases/concepts and reuse them just amazes me. It used to be that I could track or at least narrow down from where/whom she picked up stuff. Not anymore. I was surprised to hear her create different lyrics to songs but maintain the proper rhythm and rhyme. Could be Mommy, or Daddy, or the #!%@ Backyardigans. In the "not so cute" side of 3, I'm not entirely sure where she learned how to yell "Get out of here!" or "Don't touch me!". Or half the gibberish and screams she makes. Probably some little boy corrupting my darling little girl. I clearly have my work cut out for me.

Then there's what she gets from dear, old (1 yr older to be precise) Dad. Consider this an update on the latest voices I've added to my repertoire. Next post though will not involve voices. Promise.

Grover's my boy. Apparently, I do Grover pretty well. So well, that Sweetpea won't take a bath without talking to Grover. Or get dressed without Grover. Or eat breakfast without Grover. You get the idea. And if Grover is singing a song on the CD that's playing, she has to ask Grover questions. As long as Daddy doesn't sing with Grover. That doesn't make sense.

What's a guy supposed to do when his little girl asks "Can I talk to Grover, pretty please???" I think we all know the answer to that. Besides, Grover is one of my favorite Muppets. I like doing Grover, and Kermit, and, yeah I think I do him pretty well. But, I was a little skeezed out by finding the following site when searching the Web for a decent image to use in this here blog:

Grover's MySpace Page

These social networking sites are clearly out of control.

Maybe I should start a separate blog for Awww Voices, akin to our other site Awww Clutter (shameless plug). I could post the latest voices that I've done. Nah.

The next voice though is a real curiosity. I don't know why, but when giving Sweetpea a bath last week, this song just popped into my head. And I started singing it. With a really bad female, British accent. But that doesn't stop E from asking for it every night now:






Yep. Daddy does Mary Poppins.

More specifically, Daddy sings one verse of "A Spoonful of Sugar" with what will hereafter be referred to as the "worst Julie Andrews impersonation ever." Still, E loves it and asks for the song by name. It took her awhile to be able to say Mary Poppins ("What's your name again?"), but she seems to have the hang of it now. And she doesn't seem to mind that I don't sound very proper, British, or female. Don't you just love kids? We'll see how she feels after seeing the movie in a couple years. Those chimney sweeps are too freaky for a 3-yr old. Though, I probably do a much better cockney Dick van Dyke.

And, thankfully, it does not appear that Mary Poppins has a MySpace page. I don't have the courage to check Facebook though.

Oh, and to Thrift Store Mama, all I can say is, "You had your chance to make your requests!"

- Rich