Our little monkey

Dan tries to copy everything we do and say. I can't really keep tabs on everything he says or tries to say. But lately, he's really trying to say new words. Tonight he said soap while we were in the tub. And he says George, referring to Curious George, which is his favorite. He watches Curious George every night before bed while he drinks his banana smoothie. (Oh shut up, I still can't get the kid to sit and read a book, okay?)

When Jim gets home, Dan follows him upstairs while Jim shaves, brushes his teeth, gargles and takes a shower. Dan also brushes his teeth and hair while he's up there. Today, he puffed out his cheeks to mimic Jim's gargling.

When Jim was changing the air filters, Dan followed him around. Jim gave him a drill (without the power source and the drill bit ... come on, people, we're not that laid back around here). He went straight for the air duct return with the drill. And he knows exactly how the whole assembly works, too. He took it apart when he was eight months old.

We were at the store the other day getting monkey food - bananas and yogurt for his smoothies - when he heard another child let out a wail that sounded very much like his own. He called back to the kid. It was very primitive.

A sidebar:

As I was editing this post, I inadvertently pressed a combination of keys that turned the monitor 90 degrees. My picture had turned sideways on me and I had only a vague idea of what keys I had pushed. (Turns out, it was control+alt+the right arrow key.) My question? Why is this even an option? Who needs the option of turning their monitor 90 degrees or even upside down? Did the software jockeys say, "Hey, what if someone's head is on sideways?" Or "What if they want to rotate their photos?" Thank goodness Bill Gates thinks of everything.