I know that

Elizabeth is a pretty opinionated girl, and she's definitely learning to express her independence. Right now, we're in the I know that phase. For example:

M: Elizabeth, be careful with the cup, please don't spill.
E: I know that!

Or,

M: You have to put on your uniform today, remember it's a school day.
E: I know that!

In sum, at 4 years old, there's nothing out there that she doesn't know already and Mommy and Daddy are a bit of a pain constantly reminding her of things she already knows. Seriously, I thought I'd get a few more years before that kicked in.

But the kicker has to be her new habit. For as long as I can remember, I've watched the ABC evening news at 6:30 pm and switched to the NBC nightly news at 7 pm. I'm a news junkie, I like to know what's going on, it kinda matters in my work, and since I can, I like seeing the two different mainstream media perspectives. In our media age, I'm probably causing irreparable harm to my kids who pick up far more secondary TV than is probably smart, but whatever.

If you don't change to NBC after ABC, though, Wheel of Fortune comes on. Which I have always disliked. My mother is a freaking whiz at WOF - she can get the phrase sometimes when there are no letters on there whatsoever. My brain, however, just does not do well with that type of puzzle. It has to be pretty darn obvious for me to get it. So I don't watch.

About two weeks ago, I hadn't switched and we were in the living room and Elizabeth noticed the lights, the letters, I don't even know what caught her eye. I went to change channels and she said no, please don't. So we watched. I guess that wheel is sort of mesmerizing. It started slowly - the player would ask for a letter and she would repeat it. Then when the puzzle was solved, she would repeat the phrase herself, with an increasingly triumphant, satisfied tone. Then she added buying a vowel to her vocabulary, or even picking letters herself. So over the past two weeks, we've started watching, on and off, together (we'll watch, and play, or read a book - it's not a constant thing, we dip in and out of it). Turns out Rich is way better at WOF than I am, so sometimes we compete to guess the phrase. I am really, really bad at WOF. It is actually a little embarrassing.

One night last week, Rich worked late, so Elizabeth and I were watching together (and what is Andrew doing, you ask? He is doing what every busy little boy does - I can't exactly say, but he is quite busy doing whatever he does, walking around, playing with toys, trying to climb stairs, chairs, etc).

It was four words: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

So I tried puzzling it out. One t, no s, no r, a few more random letters, buy an e....once the C was guessed, I was able to talk it through.

M: Chocolate - the first word is chocolate!

Chocolate, repeated Elizabeth.

M: Cho-co-late.....

Cho-co-late.....repeated Elizabeth

M: Chocolate chip.....

Chocolate chip...echoed Elizabeth

M: Chocolate chip cookie dough!

E: Chocolate chip cookie dough! I said it first Mommy! I said it in my head first. You said it second!

So now, that's the new thing. One of us guesses, she shadows us saying the phrase, then insists she actually said it first. Watch out Grandma, you might have some competition!