The sincerest form of flattery...

If they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then not a day goes by these days that Stella doesn't flatter Sarah or I. In the last couple of weeks, she's taken to trying to imitate our behavior, often with humorous results. For example, as seen in one of the photos in Sarah's previous entry, Stella now joins us for our evening tooth brushing. Sure, she only has six teeth, and sure I'm pretty sure she doesn't actually touch any of them with her toothpaste-free brush, but still she's pretty dedicated to oral hygiene.

Also, recently, while feeding her one of her favorite snacks, Mum Mum, Sarah and I started singing her a modified version of the "Meow Mix" song: Mum mum mum mum, mum mum mum mum, mum-mum... When next thing we know, she's singing along. Again, her timing and rhythm left a little to be desired, but it was still entertaining.

Here's a couple of videos showing some other skills she's picked up by watching us...


Notice how she goes back a couple of times, until she finds a song she likes. This is something she does with some of her toys too, repeatedly hitting a button until she finds something suitable. What type of music does Stella like? Well, I can't speak for her, but I'm pretty sure she'd say something to the effect of "it's gotta have a nice beat that I can dance too."


Unfortunately, in this video, what you can't see is that first she pulled herself up on the entry table, and grabbed the keys off of it. Usually, when Sarah comes home, she throws her keys there. And, apparently, Stella's realized that the keys are supposed to be used with the door knob and lock. Unfortunately for her, she hasn't learned the difference between a key and the car lock.

Entertainingly, we've also walked outside a couple times recently to find the trunk open. Apparently, when playing with the keys, she occasionally hits the button to pop the trunk.

Sadly, as I type this, Stella is sleeping off what has been a fairly rough day. Last night, Sarah and I woke up to the sound of Stella throwing up. Over the course of the morning, she got sick a couple more time, and eventually Sarah ran her to the doctor. The Docs have assured us that its just a 24 hour stomach bug, and she does seem to be through the worst of it. Still, not a fun day for the baby. Or for mom, who happened to be holding Stella when she vomited.

Here's hoping tomorrow is better. And, here's hoping Stella starts imitating me folding laundry.

...Actually, she already does, but it mainly involves tossing the clothes around the room.