Copycat!

I think I know why Aubrey will not play independently in a playpen for a few moments while I make my freshly squeezed lemonade (my attempt at being like Brie Hodge). This girl is suuuch a copycat of Mommy! She must be doing what I'm doing at all times.

If I'm glancing through a magazine or newspaper, she grabs it (and tries to rip out all the pages). If I look up at the tv during a heated debate on the View, she stops and watches til I stop...or until Whoopi is off the screen, for some reason she is mesmerized by Whoopi. I'm thinking of putting a framed picture of Whoopi up over her crib to keep her occupied in the early morning hours. I digress. If I am typing on the computer, she wants to bang the keys til they pop off. If I am drinking a bottle of water, she asks (screams) for the bottle and attempts to drink it.

You get the gist. She totally wants to be like me. No wonder she won't let me leave her side for even just a moment! Sometimes I like to use her copycatting to manipulate her to do what I want. For instance, when I want her to play with her toys (and not the dog's bone, Daddy's flip flops, the curtains, or the lamp cord), I lie on the floor and start playing and then she starts playing. Actually, it's more like I build a tower of blocks and then she violently knocks them down and goes back to what she was doing. But still. My plan to get her to play somewhat works.

Unfortunately, she doesn't copy me at everything. I tried to trick her into sleeping by lying on the floor with her, closing my eyes, and saying, "Night! Night!", but she just stared at me and crawled away. It looks like I'm gonna have to work on that one a bit more.