They grow up fast...

Posted by Jordan

As a parent, I reserve the right to tell embarrassing stories about my children and post embarrassing pictures on my blog. I think it's what parents do. Heaven knows my parents delighted in embarrassing me every chance they got, and I'm sure that if there were such things as blogs when I was a child, they would have posted those nude pictures of me wearing dad's boots up to my bare thighs when I was two years old.

So Naivie should consider herself lucky. No nudity today. Just some cute pictures that show how much she loves to observe and imitate everything her mommy does. (We have to be careful now... who knows what she might pick up from us and choose to reenact in front of our friends, family, bishop, foreign dignitaries, or alien ambassadors. How inopportune!!)

So one evening about two months ago, I was doing something in the office, and Jaicee comes in quivering and red-faced, lips pursed and white. "Jordan, you go deal with your daughter; If I have to do it, I'm afraid I will kill her." Reluctantly, I took a deep breath, forced myself out of my chair, and groaned in anticipation of what I might find when I walked into her bedroom.

When I stepped through the door, Naivie looked up at me from where she was sitting on her bed, and in the most innocent little voice (which language can only be understood by intonation, for she had yet to learn any words) she reached toward me and offered up her mother's makeup, which she had liberally applied to her lips, eyes, cheeks, and bedsheets. My daddy's heart just melted. How could any father be mad at this precious child?! To my wife's dismay, the next sounds she heard were not the sounds of reprimand or beating, but my camera shutter. It was just too cute:

(It's almost too bad that the makeup was skin-toned blush instead of some bright red or blue that would be more visible.)
Then, this morning, she struck again, almost causing me to choke in surprise and laughter. I was working on something on my computer, when I heard her come in behind me. I leaned way back in my chair with a great stretch until I could see Naivie behind me, upside down... wearing Jaicee's bra. I almost fell out of the chair.

Jaicee was in the shower, and apparently Naivie had gone into the bedroom, found it lying there, and decided to show me that she could be like mommy!

If she were not so innocent and precious and young, this might be very disconcerting. Thank goodness we still have years to go before makeup and bras become a real concern. In the meantime, we're learning fast the effects of our example on our children--for good or for bad. Perhaps we should start bringing her into the bathroom with us and see if she can learn the whole potty thing...