and I don't care that I could be considered biased.
The other night we were eating dinner on the sofa, because we're obviously super parents. Jessica was sitting in Mark's lap happily munching through some stirfry. She, of course, decided she was done long before we were so she got down to run around. However, she was still carrying her new sippy cup. It's one of those super handy non-spill ones that we're not allowed to get the benefit from. Jessica refuses to suck from a cup these days so I have to leave the valves out. She's not quite ready to be released into the wild with a proper cup though. She can pick one up, drink and put it down again but I'm not naive enough to believe it wouldn't be an instana mess the second I looked away. I head to the kitchen to refill our non-sippy cup drinks. I come back. hmmm... sippy cup is upside down on the footstool. Luckily it's titled at just such an angle that it's not seeping out. Where's the child and why has she abandoned it there? She's fussing with the roll of paper towels I've left on the floor from some earlier toddler incident. I pause. She tears off a piece. I look over at Mark and wave for his attention. He pauses and stares at the child. She's taken her little torn off corner of towel and is headed to a small milk spot on the carpet. Am I really seeing what I think I'm seeing? She starts dabbing at it. OH MY GOSH! Mark and I are both gobsmacked. There's lots of cheering and baby praising. She looks thrilled. We are amazed. I pick up the roll of paper towels and let her pull off a full sized piece and then I dab at the carpet with her.
My 14 month old not only understands that she's spilled milk on the carpet, she knows that it needs to be cleaned up, she knows how to clean it up, and even more impressively, she decides to clean it up all by herself!
This could be completely normal behaviour for a 14 month old, but since I've not been around many other 14 months old I choose to believe that my child is a genius. :p
Mark's comment? "She's obviously seen you do that before." (Don't let him fool you. He thinks she's even smarter than I do.)
My little man does this too! When we wipe his hands and face after dinner, he will use the wipe to clean the table, then when he is down on the floor, scrubs it on the floor to clean the carpet. They take in so much more than you think don't they!
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