Cuteness and Absorbtion

Lately, my daughter has been in a super cute phase. She is telling jokes. Or what she thinks are jokes. All incredibly funny. Here are some she told this week:

"Want to hear a funny joke?"
"Of course."
"Once there was a bunny who forgot to lay his eggs and now he's dead. HAHAAAA!"
"Oh, my."

"Want to hear a funny joke?"
"Yes."
"Once there was a girl named Juliet. She fell in love and now she's dead."
"HA!"

The last one truly made me crack up. I'm sure she has never seen or read Romeo and Juliet (she's only 4) and yet, somehow the story is in the collective unconscious. she summarized it pretty accurately. I keep cracking up about these jokes while at the same time not wanting to make death funny.

And yet. I haven't told you my favorite joke. Want to hear it?
"Why did the monkey fall out of the tree?"
You say: "Why?"
"Because it was dead."
If i am not already hysterical by the time I deliver the punch line, I then become hysterical and people usually just stare at me, which makes me laugh harder.

So, I guess my girl has picked up my sense of humor. I'm not sure how. But then again, we aren't aware of everything they see us do. And sometimes they seem impervious to the things they see us do. We think nothing sinks in. But it does. One day my babysitter, whose tendencies tend toward spoiling, told me that she offered Phoebe ice cream and Phoebe said, "If we have ice cream every day it's not a treat." Hallelujah. She does listen.

And the other day Phoebe said to me, "Mom, can you put on some nice music. I want to meditate." So I did. And I went out of the room to make dinner. When I came back she was sitting with her fingers in Giyan mudra (classic yogi style) and chanting Ong Namo. I tried to get a picture, but she told me to leave her alone. So I did. She continued for about 5 minutes, which is a long time for an almost 5 year old.

One more story. I have a reputation for being a creative problem solver. Well, the other day Phoebe was complaining about her pants being too long. Since I apparently didn't do anything about it, she went and hemmed them up with a stapler and didn't say a word about it. I only noticed later and gave her a high five for problem solving.

Sigh.

Of course, she hasn't absorbed anything negative up from me. (Okay may one or two). There are a few things I'm not happy that she has picked up at her other house. For one, the fact that her stepmother has never breastfed a single baby and she's about the have her 3rd. Of course, I don't know all the details. She might not be able to, but it bothers me that Phoebe went from breastfeeding her baby dolls to bottle feeding them. I have to remind her that not all babies take bottles. However, she is totally into baby wearing.

Share your stories of cuteness!