My Sweet Mockingbird

Last night I tried to knock out a lingering headache by crashing in the bedroom for a bit while Mike played with the kids in the living room.

Minutes later all four of us were snuggling in my bed watching The View on DVR.  As Mike pointed out, I'm pretty popular around these parts.

The fellas ultimately showed little interest in the news of Sherri Shepherd joining Dancing with the Stars.  First I nudged Mike to escape back to the living room, but Michael soon requested to join his Daddy.  I called to Mike, he grabbed our boy, and Sophie and I enjoyed some girl time.  She flipped and flopped a bit but spent a good few minutes spooning with me, requesting more and more tummy tickles.

At one point she sat up and called out, "Mock!"

"What's 'mock,' baby girl?"

"Mock!"

When I said it the way she had, with a little force but not really yelling, I realized that she was mimicking what she'd heard me do earlier when I needed Mike to come get Michael.  She was calling, "Mike!"

When I calmed my giggles, I called "Mike!" again so I could share my amusement with him.

"Mock!" she echoed again.

Mike didn't find her quite as amusing as I had, but even he couldn't hold back a smirk when he told her, "That's Daddy to you, young lady."  The next morning he urged her to "Say bye-bye to Carrie!" but she either didn't get it or is just totally on my side.

Sophie's "Mock-ing" didn't surprise me too much that night.  Not only are she and Michael little language sponges these days, she's also been my personal mirror. 

The other morning, for example, as the kids pushed trucks around the kitchen, I looked out our sliding door to the backyard, taking note of spring projects and envisioning warmer days to come.  Lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice much about Sophie when she first stood beside me, but when I took her in I saw her arms were awkwardly wrapped at her waist.  I saw my own arms folded at my waist and knew she was trying to stand just like I was.

"Monkey see, monkey do" has been an accurate description of both kids for quite a while now, but it's especially nice to get this kind of attention lately from my girl.  I guess I better quit picking my nose and dropping the f-bomb.