As we were finishing Karis' bedtime routine, I left Lena, Makena, and Karis to quickly floss something that had become stuck between my teeth. After I flossed, I blew my nose. When I finished, I heard Karis now outside my bathroom door speaking in a soft, sad voice, "Daddy, why you not read book to me?"
I responded, "Karis, Daddy was blowing his nose." purposely not going into the fact that I had to floss because I figured a simple answer would suffice.
To my surprise, Karis retorted, "There's Kleenex in my room Daddy."
"Yes, yes you're right Karis. You do have Kleenex in your room. I guess I could have blown my nose in your room." She's reached a new level of learning. It's neat (and scary / shocking) to see her connecting dots that she previously could not.
Another example...
Over the past two weeks, Karis has asked a couple of times for me to join her when she goes night-night. I try to persuade her that she needs only her buddy Fluffy (see previous post about Fluffy here). It worked the first time.
The other night, she remained a bit more persistent that I stay with her in addition to Fluffy. So I just reached into my arsenal of wisdom to outwit her. I told her that Mommy would be sleeping alone and that she should give Fluffy to Mommy if I were to stay with her. She glanced at Fluffy, and then pulled him in close to give it a face hug. She had a perplexed look on her face. Check! It worked.
Tonight, she again asked me to stay with her. I thought, "Okay, I'll just outwit her again. I'll ask her to give up Fluffy which she will not." So I say, "Karis, Mommy cannot sleep alone. If I stay with you, you need to give Fluffy to Mommy." I smirk.. but only momentarily as almost immediately she responds, "Fluffy's cousin." Check to Daddy! I was impressed that she thought of the ineffective back-up Fluffy to give to Mommy. Not to be outdone, I claim that Fluffy's cousin is too small. Again, Karis pipes up with "Lion!" (a stuffed animal that is quite big). Check mate to Daddy. Game over. I've met my match folks.
