Snapshot: February 6, 2012

You know how they say that toddlers are verbal sponges, absorbing language when you least expect (and desire!) it?

Case in point:

At the dinner table tonight, I ask, "Elinor, what did you do at school today?"
Elinor replies, "nothing."
What? Again I ask, "Elle. What. Did you do. At school. Today?"
Elinor, "nothing."
Oh no. Not her too!
Mommy, "Elle, that can't be right."
Elinor, silent and giving me a perplexed look.
Okay . . . slightly different angle, "Did you play with your friends today?"
Elinor, "I don't know."
My baby sounds like a poorly coached and evasive trial witness!
I ask again, "What are you friends' names, Elinor?"
Elinor says blankly, "I don't know."
Really? "You don't know your friends' names, Elle?"
Elinor, "I don't know."

Ya think someone has been listening to her big brother's dinner table responses for the last year? Grrr.

But it could be worse, right? At least I didn't lose my wallet (again) . . . inspiring her to cross diagonally from one corner of her daycare room to the other chanting under her breath "sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, etc." like another little two-year-old sponge I knew in 2009. (Confession: Yes, Harry, Mommy inadvertently taught you that forbidden word a full month before your Great Uncle Craig.)