I remember reading in one of the (many many) baby books I read, about deferred imitation. The author was basically saying how parents need to watch their behavior around their children, no matter the age, because even young children carefully watch what we do and then repeat that behavior, even if it is months later. So today J walks up to me in the kitchen and asks for a towel. He puts it on the floor and then wraps Mike up in it. Then, as he is holding Mike like a baby, he starts gently bouncing up and down going “shhhh shhhh shhhh shhhhh.” Imagine my surprise because I used to do this with R when he was an infant in order to get him to fall asleep or to calm down…. and that was, oh, I don’t know, at least a year ago!! I was stunned. Then J proceeded to do this with his other babies. Laying each one down on the couch after a little while because he said they were sleeping and needed a nap.
My Everyday Life 